


Fifty Shades of Blue

by Izzoso



Series: The Darkness Inside [2]
Category: Wild Kratts
Genre: Dark Martin, Eventual non-con elements, F/M, M/M, Mind Control, So much angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2018-12-25 05:33:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12029217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Izzoso/pseuds/Izzoso
Summary: Martin never fully recovered from being brainwashed by Donita. When he loses control of a situation that ends up hurting his brother, he decides he needs to take drastic measures to take control in his life again.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys. Here is part two of Darkness Inside. I had felt like I hadn't given the story enough love, and had rushed through it. I thought i'd write a second part and do a better job this time. I was really excited to write this, but lost steam pretty early on and started 'Crash and Burn' instead. 
> 
> Well I finally came back!
> 
> Despite the name, this story is in no way going to be about BDSM. I don’t know enough about the lifestyle to properly depict it. Maybe as the story progresses I can write some elements in, but as usual, I have no idea where this story will go. I just felt like I left it rather unfinished. This is more a story about mental health problems and a bit of an abusive relationship. You will probably want to have read 'Darkness Inside' first.

It had taken Martin a long time to go out on a creature adventure. In fact, he had become slightly anxious at the thought of leaving the Tortuga. He worried that Donita or Zach would be out lurking, waiting to take revenge on him or his brother. But Chris was patient with him, and went slowly.

The first trip was small. They parked the Tortuga on a snowy icefield in Antarctica to literally chill with the penguins. They didn’t stray far from the ship, and the flat, snowy expanse allowed them to see for miles away. Martin met a trio of baby emperor penguin chicks that he immediately bonded with, and named them Fluff Ball, Grey Feather and Ross. “We’re in the Ross Sea region. How could I resist?” Martin had laughed.

On the second trip, they went to Canada to visit with Kid Musky and Baby Tooth. Chris hoped it would help remind Martin about all the animal friends they made and helped. It was the first time since Martin killed the peacocks as a panther, that he had used his creature powers. He and Kid Musky, who should have been re-named Adult Musky, butted heads and chased each other around for hours. Chris leaned against Baby Tooth, who also needed a name change, and took a nap.

Chris thought he would lose all the progress they had made when the brothers ran into a Zachbot in Patagonia on their third trip. Zach was capturing guanacos, relatives of the domesticated llama, for some unknown reason, but he was just as spooked to see Martin as Martin was to see him. Martin used a mountain lion creature power, but it was for naught. Zach had high tailed it out of there immediately, leaving the guanacos behind. Martin had felt mentally stronger after that.

In the last few months, life seemed to return to normal. There hadn’t been much activity from their enemies, and they had just been awarded a grant to study migratory movements, depth preferences, and thermal biology of Atlantic Bluefin tuna from Stanford University. They hadn’t taken on a large project in a while, so they were pretty excited to get a prestigious opportunity like this. Martin and Chris had stayed up late into the night planning over the weeks before the field study began.

Finally they found themselves diving off the coast of Japan, observing the migration patterns of the Bluefin Tuna. The fish were on their way back to the spawning grounds in the Western Pacific between central Japan and the northern Philippines, and in the Sea of Japan. After spawning, the brothers would follow the juveniles across the Pacific Ocean to Mexico. That was the part of the research the girls were looking forward to.

“It’s not going to be a ‘sitting around all day on the beach sipping beverages all day’ sort of trip.” Chris crossed his arms. “We’re still going to have to do some research.”

“Exactly, SOME research. You can’t tell me the beach isn’t calling to you?” Aviva poked him in the chest.

He had to admit that after spending weeks in the ocean, drying out on a beach did sound pretty welcoming. He was the climbing brother, after all. He was sure Martin was in heaven right now, swimming every day. He smiled, looking over at his brother who was currently PIT tagging, or GPS tagging, a tuna. He was so happy things were going back to normal. Sometimes Martin had setbacks, they all did after all, but they were all working through it together. 

Chris looked at his watch and saw that it was time for a break. The Tortuga was currently parked on the shoreline of the Kochi Prefecture, on Japan’s Shikoku Island. Jimmy and Aviva were monitoring the GPS tracking systems, while Koki worked on repairing some of the telemetry equipment. The brothers knew the team was busy, so they would use their underwater bikes to head in and out each day, instead of making them fly the brothers out. They had gone a little further than planned today, so Chris figured they could call it a little early to make it back in time.

As they headed for the bikes, a large school of tuna blasted past them, panicked. The brothers looked around frantically. The only predators of the Bluefins were whales and sharks. If the tuna couldn’t be caught, the brothers might be next on the menu. They had to be cautious, even if it was a false alarm.

That’s when they saw the net cutting through the water. It was a trawling net and it was scooping the tuna at an alarming rate. It could only be the work of a poacher, as this area was off-limits to fishermen. With a quick nod to each other, Chris immediately grabbed a knife from his belt and swam towards the net, while Martin swam towards the boat.

-

As Martin broke the surface he looked up to see Gourmand leaning on the rails, staring back down at him with a huge grin plastered across his face. "My little Blueberry, fancy running in to you here." 

"Gourmand? I should have guessed." Martin spat as he grabbed a hold of an outrigger and swung himself on to the boat. "These fish are endangered, but you must know that. Were you using them to lure us out?"

Gourmand simply smiled and advanced on the older brother. Martin stood his ground, even if he was feeling uneasy about being so close to an enemy. "I heard you had gone back to the good side. It's unfortunate I never got the opportunity to meet your better side. Let's just say I was just curious to see what you were like now, the aftermath of reverting." 

"I never played for your team, Gourmand, I was forced in to it." Martin clenched his fists, unwelcome memories surfacing in his mind. 

"That's not what I heard." Gourmand laughed. "She misses you, you know. Offered a pretty sum of money for whoever could bring you back to her."

Now there was a bounty on his head? Just great. If only he had retired from creature adventuring like he had originally planned... If he had just run away where no one could find him. What scared him the most was his residual feelings he had for Donita. He knew they weren't real, that they were left over from being brainwashed, but sometimes he found he missed her. She was right when she said he was a monster. He had worked so hard to hide it from his brother and their team lately. To pretend he had gone back to normal.

"You'll have to earn your money a different way. I'm never going back to her."

"Oh no? Would you rather I made my money poaching, rather than hand you in? Self-preservation at its finest." He laughed and Martin blushed. "Well, it's too bad. You see, I asked for a new trawling net but Donita said she would buy me a new boat if I could land you. I could really use that new boat, understand?"

Martin wasn't quick enough to dodge the incoming sticky dough balls that Gourmand shot from his dough cannon. He was plastered to the side of the cabin and no amount of struggling would free him. He felt like a trapped animal. The thought of going back to Donita and being mind-controlled really frightened him.

Then he remembered that Chris was still in the water. He would come help him, everything would be okay.

"Now where is your brother?" He asked, as though reading his mind. Gourmand walked over to the controls and started to raise the net from below. "I certainly hope he isn't ruining my only net."

The net emerged from the water, dripping and writhing. It was full of large silvery tuna, and a green clad human. A couple tuna broke free from the net, now that there was a big hole in the net. The way the net was held by the lines of the outrigger kept the rest of them inside though. Martin strained against the dough, and he could feel it start to slightly give. He hoped that Chris would be able to distract the chef long enough for him to escape.

"Well well, what do we have here?" Gourmand laughed as he reeled Chris and the tuna in to the boat. "That's the problem with trawling, all the useless by-catch."

"Gourmand, let these Bluefin tuna go! They're endangered and belong living free and in the wild!" Chris pushed his scuba mask up. If the situation hadn't been so dangerous, Martin would have laughed at the sight of Chris in a net with wriggling tuna, trying to keep his balance. As it was, the panicked tuna were causing the net to twist and tangle. Gourmand played with a few switches that caused one of the outriggers to drop one side of the net.

As everything shifted and twisted, Chris became hopelessly tangled in the net. He struggled but the net only tightened around him; the fine filaments cutting in to his skin. It was going to take a knife to cut him free. 

Gourmand smiled and went up to the younger brother and ripped the scuba mask off his head. He then leaned in close and spoke softly, so only Chris could hear. "Donita sends her regards. With you out of the picture, it's only a matter of time before she sinks her claws back in to your brother."

Then, before either of the brothers could react, he released the break and let the net plunge back in to the ocean.

"NO!" Martin screamed, pulling against the dough. A rage he hadn't felt in months flared up inside him. As he wrenched himself free, he had to make a very important choice; Go after Chris, or make Gourmand hurt. He knew what the correct action should be, but the rage inside was telling him to hurt. He wanted blood.

Instead he shouldered Gourmand out of the way and released the net, using the controls. The chef made a lunge for him, but he jumped out of the way and on to the railings. Gourmand laughed at him from the ground and said: "See you around Blueberry. I’m looking forward to earning my new boat!" as Martin dove in to the ocean.

He was temporarily caught in the wake of the boat. When he finally righted himself, Martin panicked when he couldn’t see the net anywhere. The boat had been moving pretty quick when he let it loose, so Chris could be anywhere and he was wasting precious seconds. 

The glimmer of a few stray Bluefin tuna below him caught his eye and that's when he noticed the sinking net. He swam downwards as fast as he could and scrabbled at the net. Chris was still caught up in it, but he was unconscious. Martin pulled his mask off and put it on his brother, although he doubted it would help at the moment. He cut and pulled at the filaments, causing cuts in both their skin. Trying to see past the blood clouding the water, he managed to rip a small hole. Little by little Martin was able to pull the net around Chris' body.

Finally he freed his brother and dragged him to the surface. Martin wasn’t sure if any tuna had been stranded in the sinking net, but he couldn’t spare them a thought. Now that he was out of Gourmands presence, all he could think of was his brother. He could worry about their enemies, and any abandoned animals, later.

He gasped for air, and struggled to keep Chris above the water. They were so far from the shore, he started to wonder if either of them would make it. He pulled out his creature pod and pressed an emergency button. It would work as a homing beacon for the Tortuga.

For a few terrifying minutes Martin struggled to keep the both of them above water. The ocean was too turbulent to provide Chris any help, other than to keep him from sinking, and he was running out of energy fast.  
Finally the shadow of the Tortuga blocked out the sun. They had found them.

Once they dragged the brothers aboard, Martin immediately started CPR on Chris. He tried not to focus on the fact his brother's lips were turning blue and he was non-responsive. How long had Chris gone without air? He knew he had to start CPR within 6 minutes of the heart stopping, but he didn't know how much time had passed. He couldn't calculate. All he could focus on was trying to get Chris to breathe. Water trickled out of his nose and mouth as the liquid was pushed from his lungs. 

"Come on, Chris!" He growled, frustrated. The rest of the team hovered in the background, watching and waiting. Aviva buried her face in Koki's shoulder, and Jimmy bit his nails. Martin started to falter as his shoulders and wrists lost their strength, and he let out an anguished cry. Just as Koki stepped forward to take over, Chris suddenly coughed water all over himself. Koki helped guide him on to this side, where he continued to cough out water and gasp for air.

Now that he was breathing, they had to get him medical attention. Jimmy ran to the cockpit to take over for the autopilot controls, while Aviva produced blankets and started to wrap Chris up, who was shivering from the cold. Koki checked over him and started to treat the cuts that the net had caused.

Meanwhile Martin sat to his brothers’ side with a thousand-yard stare. He knew he should help somehow but he couldn’t make himself move. He couldn't even be bothered to wrap his own hands, where the cuts from the nets were still bleeding heavily. Time seemed to slow down as he watched his brother struggle to breath.

"Martin, are you alright?" Aviva asked, placing a blanket around his shoulders. She had managed to pull him out of his trance and he snapped back to the present.

"What do you mean? It was Chris that almost drowned." He replied, his voice hitching on the last word. 

"I think you're in shock, MK. You don't look so good."

She replied, touching his face and taking a temperature reading.

"It's okay, I'm fine." Aviva gave him a look like she didn't believe it for one minute, but she let it go. If Martin was being honest, he felt light headed and drowsy but his heart was racing. He wouldn't admit it though, because Chris needed him. His brother laid on the floor, shivering and coughing. Martin longed to pull him into his lap and help warm him, but he knew it would be inappropriate, given the crew had no idea about them. The team was currently running around at the moment so Martin leaned down and kissed his forehead.

"Thanks for saving me, Martin." Chris quietly croaked, and the sound was so heart breaking Martin grabbed his hand and squeezed.

"God Chris, I thought I'd lost you. I'm sorry I couldn't get to you sooner." Martin pushed the hair off his brother’s face, doing a sad job of making it spikey again. “How do you feel?”

“I think I still have water in my lungs, Martin. It feels like I’m still drowning on dry land.” Chris closed his eyes and focused on breathing. “My whole chest burns.”

“We’ll be at the hospital soon, you’ll be okay.” Martin tucked the blankets around his brother a little tighter. He didn’t dare tell Chris that he had hesitated between saving him and getting revenge, or that he had possibly sacrificed some straggling tuna trapped in the net in order to save him. Those thoughts were already torturing him, he didn’t need to share them with Chris.

How had the day gotten so out of control? How could he let his brother get so hurt again, that they were taking him to the hospital for the second time that year? Chris didn’t want him to leave, he had been very adamant about it, but Martin felt like he was slowly unravelling and he wasn’t sure how to pull himself back together.


	2. Chapter 2

Chris was released from the hospital the next day after getting a chest x-ray that had shown that the water trapped in his lungs was beginning to clear significantly. He was exhausted though, and was ordered to rest when he got home.  
Following the doctor’s orders, Martin locked Chris, and himself, in his bedroom that night. He was the big spoon, as he wrapped his arms and legs possessively around his brother. Chris didn’t seem to mind, and snuggled closer. He still had a chill that wouldn’t go away.

“I’m sorry Chris.” He mumbled in to his hair. The younger man rolled over and looked him in the eyes.

“Why? It’s not like you made Gourmand do that.” Before Martin could open his mouth, Chris continued. “And don’t say it’s your fault because Donita is after you. This was not your fault Martin.”

Martin almost jumped at Donita’s name. He didn’t want to invoke her name here, of all places. His brother didn’t know all the things Gourmand had admitted, especially that there was a bounty on his head, so to speak. Tonight wasn’t the night to bring any of that up. To change the subject, he leaned down and trailed kisses along his brother’s jawline and down his neck.

“Martin, I’m starting to think you have some sort of after-hospital fetish.” Chris laughed, but it twisted Martins stomach. It only reminded him that his brother had been in the hospital twice now because of him. 

Martin reached beside him and grabbed a discarded belt from the floor. He pulled Chris’ arms above his head and tied them to the headboard. As he worked, Chris locked eyes with him and watched him uncertainly. The two of them had never really gotten this kinky. “You’ll just have to stay here and be safe from now on.”

Chris grinned at his brother’s playfulness. He tested the hold of the belt and was surprised to find it had been tied slightly too tight, but he didn’t complain. He longed to run his hand through Martins hair and across his skin, but he was willing to try something new.

Martin climbed on top his brother and ran a hand along his chest. He leaned down and sucked on Chris’ nipple, making him moan. "Let's see how quiet you can be. The others are just outside the room." Martin placed a finger against his lips, and then reached into his brothers unbuttoned shorts. Chris let out a sigh, leaning back against the headboard, unable to do much more than that. Martin continued to work the sensitive skin of his neck, matching the pace of his strokes to match the quickening of Chris’ panting. Hot breaths against his neck sent Chris’ mind into a spin. "Come for me, Chris." Martin commanded him, and the deep, husky voice was his undoing.

Chris arched his back off the mattress, silently convulsing in orgasm. Martin couldn’t describe the feeling he got from controlling the situation like that. He felt really good and he wasn’t ready for it to be over. Before Chris could get his bearings, he quickly lubed up and slid inside. Chris let out a gasp of surprise, and Martin felt momentarily guilty for not giving him any warning. He paused, giving his brother time to adjust and trailed kisses along his jawline. They locked eyes and Chris nodded, his breathing ragged, trying his best to relax. Martin started to move again, eventually finding the sweet spot.

"God. Yes." Chris panted, and gasped out words of encouragement. Martin held a hand over his brother’s mouth, trying to keep him quiet. Any groaning would bring the team rushing in, assuming Chris was in pain from earlier… from when Gourmand tried to drown his brother. In his anger, Martin thrust more forcefully. He was never going to let Gourmand near them again. Or Zach. Or Donita. Somehow he’d make them pay. He grabbed his brother’s shoulders for leverage as his thrusts become slightly erratic, his resolve beginning to fade. Chris cried out as Martin mercilessly aimed to hit his prostate, sending pleasure waves through him with every thrust.

Chris’ body shook, clenching down around Martin, deep inside him, also teetering over the edge. Together they reached their climax as Martin pumped in short, shuddering thrusts, Chris crying out into his brother’s hand, and Martin biting his own lip so hard he could taste blood.

Martin was so spent he had enough forethought to untie Chris before he fell asleep, draped over his brother.

-

Chris laid awake for a long time afterwards, processing the night. He and Martin had never had such rough sex. It had been fun, and yet it had come out of nowhere which was slightly alarming. It was as though Martin had been angry through the whole act and had been taking it out on him. He flinched as he slid out from under Martin. Chris hadn’t been this sore since their first time, and he blushed at the memory.

It wasn’t until he got to the bathroom that he realized just how rough Martin had been. He had darkening bruises on his collarbone and hips from where his brother had gripped him. There was also a red outline of a bite mark on his shoulder. Chris tried to think back to a point of when Martin had bit him hard enough to leave a mark, but came up empty handed. As he reached up to trace the marks on his collarbone, he noticed the raw skin around his wrists from where he was tied up.

Oh Martin, Chris wondered. What had gotten in to his brother tonight? He pulled on a long sleeve shirt to hide the marks, and crawled back in bed. Martin had obviously needed some sort of release, and Chris was happy to have helped his brother in some way. He just hoped there wouldn’t be a repeat any time soon. He was going to be sore in the morning.

-

When Martin woke up, Chris was already gone. His brother was always up an hour or so earlier than the rest of the crew, so it was common that he often woke up alone when they shared a bed. He was a little surprised that Chris would be so energetic after a traumatic event and a hospital visit, but he wouldn't question it. It meant things hadn't changed too much and everything was back to normal. 

Well, as normal as life could be when you're constantly looking over your shoulder. No, Martin was feeling really good today, he wouldn't let his enemies ruin this feeling. Last night had been really good. If Chris had been here he might have suggested another round. 

Martin’s mood dropped regardless as he walked out of the bedroom and saw everyone packing up gear for the expedition. The two girls were arguing about which size of water probe to pack for the day, while at the back of the loading bay his brother was laughing about something with Jimmy. This was just a normal morning in the Tortuga.

"Do you really think we should head back out into the water so soon?" He questioned Aviva, uneasy. She looked up at him and gave him a warm, reassuring smile. 

“It was Chris’ idea, but I agree with him. We’re a little behind schedule, and if we don’t keep going we’re going to go over budget.” She explained, while Chris walked over and handed her the appropriate cables for the probes. 

"Yeah, I feel fine." Chris shrugged. Martin chewed on his lip, debating whether to pull the plug on the idea. As though his brother could tell what he was thinking, he added: "It's fine Martin, honestly. We can take it easy today."

"Alright." Martin nodded. Any sign of danger and he would pull them out. He could already feel the anxiety creeping in as he looked out to the shoreline. Chris should be the one experiencing post-traumatic stress, not him… not that he would wish it on his brother. It was just a strange experience for him.

The majority of the gear was ready to go, since they had decided to do an easy task to test the waters. Martin finished packing up the telemetry gear while Chris went to change into his wetsuit. 

"We'll fly you guys out today, and while you work, we'll go pick up the water bikes that were left behind yesterday." Koki explained. Martin nodded, grabbing his wetsuit from the drying rack. Truth be told, he just wanted to relax today, but Aviva and Chris were right. They didn’t want to fall behind schedule. 

He pushed the bedroom door, reviewing Aviva’s schedule for the day.

"Hey Chris, Aviva wants us..." Martin stopped in his tracks when he saw Chris. His brother only had the bottom portion of his suit on, leaving him topless. As Chris straightened up, he visibly winced, as though he was in pain. His eyes darted all over the younger man’s body, staring at the bruises and marks that he had made on him the night before. 

"Martin, it’s okay..." Chris started, seeing the look on Martins face. He had put his hands up in a placating manner, but Martin pushed them away.

"No, it's not." He said, stepping forward to trace the bite mark with his finger. When had he bit Chris? He had obviously been so lost in the moment that he couldn’t remember such a hard bite.

Now that he really thought about it, things had gotten out of hand last night. Martin hated to admit that he had enjoyed taking control of his brother like that. He hadn’t intended to be so rough, but it had nonetheless helped him feel a little less ‘untied’ to have control over something. It had felt like an outlet for his anger towards the bad guys. The worst part was he had really enjoyed it, and for that reason, he felt absolutely awful. 

He really was a monster if this was how he wanted to treat his brother. He pulled Chris in for a tight hug and vowed to himself that he would never lose control like that again.

“I’m so sorry, Chris. I’ll never treat you that was again.” He mumbled as he buried his face in the younger man’s neck. Chris reached up and gently carded his hand through the light brown hair tickling his face.

“It’s alright, Martin, I promise.” He pulled Martin back and gave him a genuine smile. It was a relief to see that he wasn’t angry in any way. It helped ease his guilt a little. “Now let’s get going. We have data to collect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I lied. THIS was as far as the story was written. After this, the story may or may not continue. I had a lot of fun ideas, but I feel like I've forgotten most of them now. Maybe when I'm done Parallel Lines I'll come back to this and try to figure it out again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the return of the great Krattcest Tumblr Queen KrattsGoneWild inspired me to come back to the fandom! I won’t lie, I’m struggling to stay with it, but I’m going to try my best to at least finish my last two stories. I’ll going to go ahead and leave the warning of the story possibly not getting updated just to be safe. I’ve decided to go a different route then the story originally was meant to go, so bare with me and enjoy the ride :)
> 
> Chapter warning. Barely edited. You’ve been warned.

The Tortuga dropped them off before heading out to collect the bikes. The brothers weren’t too far out, choosing to start their work west of the island, in the spawning grounds. It would help to tag the fish after they finished spawning, as they would be more docile. The two of them could use an easier day.

Martin had been dwelling on what he had done to Chris all morning. All the marks were hidden from sight under his brother’s wetsuit, but he could imagine each bruise and bite mark, as if he had x-ray vision. He was mortified that he would cause his brother such pain, but at the same time, a very tiny, disgusting part of him got a thrill from it.

He didn’t understand why he felt this way. In the past, any time he had injured his brother by accident, especially in bed, he had never felt this way. So what had changed? Was it really that it made him feel more control of his unravelling life? It sounded like a pathetic excuse, even to himself.

There was a flash of green, and he glanced over to see his brother now in tuna-form. Martin smiled as he watched the green fish try to race a full grown male. Chris was in good condition, but he was nothing compared to a creature that spent its whole life swimming. Besides, if anyone had a chance at winning a race against a tuna, it was himself. He was the swimming brother after all. Martin debated whether to try racing a tuna of his own, then he caught a slight discoloration in Chris’ scales, where his human bruises would be. Suddenly it didn’t seem so fun.

In fact, Chris needed to be more careful. Gourmand could be out there, waiting for them to drop their defense.

As if he had called the man into existence, he caught sight of the hull of a boat and the wake from a propeller, headed their way. He tried to calm his racing heart as he watched the boat get closer. There was no net this time, but that didn’t mean Gourmand didn’t have another trick up his sleeve.

Chris wasn’t even paying attention, attempting to pull a 180 in water, copying the tuna. Martin had to warn him. It was going to happen all over again, and he refused to let it be his fault again. With a flash of blue, he transformed in to a tuna and kicked his tail into gear as fast as he could. Putting on a burst of speed, he rammed himself forcefully into Chris, pushing him aside out of the boats path.

As his brother attempted to right himself, the small boat chugged past slowly. Martin felt extremely embarrassed when he realized the boat was just casually passing by, and was not Gourmand, back for revenge.

“What gives, Bro?” Chris asked heatedly, swimming up to face him.

“I… I’m sorry. I saw the boat and panicked…” He admitted in a small voice. His heart was still racing from adrenaline. Martin watched a scale or two slough off his brother’s tuna form and swallowed hard. Losing any part of yourself in animal form was never good. It could mean losing part of your human self. He had hit Chris too hard and had caused the scales to dislodge.

Chris didn’t seem to notice though. The anger in his eyes was instantly replaced with pity, and Martin found he couldn’t stand to have his brother look at him that way. It was somehow worse than the anger. He deactivated and swam to the surface.

The bright sun reflected off the surface and blinded him temporarily. Instead he bobbed at the surface, eyes clenched, breathing hard. He was being so stupid. Why couldn’t he stop being so stupid? He heard the tell-tale sound of his brother breaking the surface and opened his eyes.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Chris said as he treaded water. “I’m here for you Martin.”

Of course his brother was there for him. As the older brother, Martin was failing him miserably. He didn’t know how much more failing at life he could take.

-

"I think we should stop this." Martin blurted out. Chris' heart immediately raced. His brother hadn't exactly stated what 'this' was yet, but he had a pretty good idea. "Whatever this is between us has to stop. You keep getting hurt because of it; because of me."

“Hey, come on. You’re just freaked out right now. I’m okay, I promise.” Chris laughed nervously. “Let’s call it a day. I’ll call the Tortuga back and we can just take it easy for the rest of the day.”

Martin nodded, but stayed quiet. He called the Tortuga before heading back down to gather their equipment. His brother stayed on the surface, probably stewing in his dark thoughts. Chris knew he would have to pull Martin from whatever funk he had managed to put himself in, or it could become a downward spiral.

It had been this way since Martin had broken free of Donita’s control. There was some sort of lingering darkness in him he couldn’t quite shake, and it would often threaten to pull him under at any moment. Chris was getting better at pulling him out of it before it progressed to far, but this time?

Perhaps it was too late? Martin had never joked about breaking up, so he had to be in a bad place at that moment. When he reached the surface again, he could spy the Tortuga in the distance. He gave a tentative smile to his brother, who did not return it. Chris could feel his own mood plummet.

-

Once aboard the turtle ship, he sent Martin to his room and started putting the gear away. Aviva stayed with him to help, and the two chatted about their upcoming trip to Mexico.

“It will be nice to be around other Spanish speakers for a while.” She smiled. “I suppose I’ll be everyone’s translators for a while.”

“I’ve actually been trying to teach myself a few common phrases.” He grinned before confidently spouting a few of the phrases he had learned. The way she doubled-over laughing, made him think perhaps his Spanish still needed some work.

“I’m sorry, Chris. But those were terrible! What book are you using to teach yourself?” She laughed as she wiped away a tear. Chris tried, and failed, to look offended. He smiled, knowing he could never admit to her that someone on the internet taught him the translations. It looked like he had been duped by an internet troll.

“Forget it. I’ve learned my lesson. I’ll learn from you instead, if you’ll teach me.” He said as he finished packing away the gear. “So, spill it. What exactly did I say in Spanish? I’m assuming it wasn’t ‘Where is the bathroom?’”

“Not even close. You said-“ Aviva stopped and gasped. “Chris, you’re bruised and bleeding!”

He had started to unzip his wetsuit, only to find blood leaking from a gash on his shoulder. He knew exactly where the bruise had come from, but the blood? When had that happened?

Oh. Right. This was where Martin had shoved him earlier. Had he lost some scales in the process?

This had happened once before. Martin had lost his flight feathers to a predator once and when he returned to his human form there was extensive bruising on his hand and wrist, and was even missing 2 nails. They eventually healed and grew back, but it was a pretty eye-opening experience for them.

Under the blood, he noticed a patch of skin was missing. As though it had been rubbed away. Aviva grabbed a medical kit and started working on his shoulder immediately.

“Martin is going to freak out.” He groaned as Aviva cut away his shirt. He could see her eyes momentarily zero in on a thumb-shaped bruise he had on his collarbone, but she said nothing. Instead, she cleaned away the blood and applied an antiseptic to the wound. He thanked the gods that the wound had happened on the opposite side from the bite mark. That one would be hard to explain.

“I think he’s under a lot of stress right now. Feels guilty for what happened, you know? Maybe we just hide this from him for the meantime.” Aviva said as she began to wrap the wound. Chris agreed, but knew it was pointless. With the nature of their relationship, it was only a matter of time before Martin saw it.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have pushed going out today.” Chris sighed. “I was ready, but I’m beginning to think Martin might have some form of post-traumatic stress. I didn’t even think of that before pushing for us to go out.”

“I think you needed to prove to yourself that you were alright. Either way, let’s take the weekend off.” Aviva smiled as she packed up the first aid kit. “We could lounge around. Relax. Maybe play some cards.”

“Yeah. That sounds nice.” Chris smiled and then thanked her for her help. Martin would enjoy the free time. The two of them could just relax and spend time together without technology and unwind. He finished getting dressed before he wandered off to find his brother and tell him the good news.

-

Chris found his brother in his room, laying on the bed with his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. He crossed the room quietly and crawled in next to him. Chris rested his head on Martin’s arm and snaked his hand up his brother’s shirt, like he had done countless times in the past. This time, however, Martin tensed with the action.

“Stop, Chris.”  
“Oh, sorry. Do you need some time to yourself?” Chris sat up and cocked his head to the side. He knew he shouldn’t leave Martin to stew but he couldn’t force the man to snuggle if he didn’t want to. When Martin didn’t reply, he opened his mouth to tell him the good news about taking the weekend off, but Martin sat up abruptly.

“I wasn’t joking, Chris. We need to stop fooling around.” He stared in to his eyes, and Chris was surprised to see anger in them. “We can’t do this anymore, okay?”

"Don't I get a say?" Chris pleaded. Deep down inside he knew it couldn't last forever, what they were doing was technically wrong, but in this moment he realized he never wanted to stop. He would never find someone he loved as much as he did his brother. Chris could see how hard this was for Martin. Neither of them wanted to stop, but Martin obviously thought this would put an end to all the bad things that seemed to be happening lately. “Look, this isn’t your fault, and even if it was, they’d still come after me just for being your brother. I doubt they even know we’re… you know.”

“So what are you trying to say, Chris? Sure Donita and the others might come after you, but what about me? Do you enjoy when I hurt you?” Martin said as he leaned forward and grabbed him by the upper arm, shoving him down on the bed. “Do you like seeing me lose control around the bad guys? Around you?” He said as he wrapped a hand around the exposed flesh of his brother’s neck. “Is coming that close to death on a daily basis exciting to you?” His voice cracked as he tore at his brother’s clothes with his free hand.

Chris wheezed below him, scrabbling at the hand holding him down. Martin seemed like he had fallen in to a weird trance, but immediately snapped out of it as Chris dug his nails into the tender flesh of his wrist. He released him and scooted to the end of the bed, staring at his hands.

“I… I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” Martin mumbled quietly. Chris sat back up and put some space between them. He hated to admit it to himself, but he was a little afraid of his older brother at the moment. “Gourmand hurt you to get to me, and I was scared and angry. I was also angry at you; for being a target, for letting them scare me and make me angry. And I know that’s wrong, I really do, but I can’t stop it.”

Chris was at a loss of what to do or say. A week ago, things were as normal as they could be. They were out creature adventuring, helping animals and discovering new creature powers. Then this attack happened and Martin was quickly regressing back to his angry, depressive stage like he had been immediately following the whole Donita incident. It had taken months to pull him out of the slump, and now it was back, full-swing, out of no where?

But never before had Martin blamed him, or tried to hurt him. This side of him was new and scary. Something had happened, and Chris didn’t know how to fix it this time. Then to make matters worse, Martin looked over and narrowed his eyes. Chris realized that Martin had torn his shirt, exposing the bandaged wound.

“Get out of my room.” He turned away, back to angry. The roller coaster of emotions made Chris feel off balance. For a minute there he thought maybe they were making progress.

“No, Martin, we should really talk about this.” Chris said as he reached forward to place a hand on his brother’s shoulder.

“Get out!” Martin yelled, getting up and holding the door open for him. Chris was absolutely shell-shocked. He immediately ran from the room, terrified and heart broken. He hid in his own room, with his back to the door and slid to the ground. Chris couldn’t help but feel like he had lost his brother all over again to Donita, even if she had nothing to do with it this time.


	4. Chapter 4

Chris sobbed into his pillow, muffling his misery so Martin wouldn't know how much this was killing him. His brother seemed almost relieved to have gotten it done and over with. Chris knew a big part of it had been that Martin couldn’t stand to see him get hurt simply because he loved him, but maybe there was more to it? Maybe the worry had been more brotherly than anything else. Maybe Martin was beginning to regret all the things they did together…

He rolled on to his side, pulling the pillow down and curling around it. He clutched it tight, willing the pillow to close the hole in his chest. What happened between them was a mistake, he could hear Martin’s voice echoing in his head. It should have never happened. Chris knew Martin had only said and done those things to try to stop Chris from arguing with him, but a small part of him wondered if they weren’t the half truth.

He couldn’t remember who had initiated all those years ago, but he did remember being the one with the most hesitancy about continuing. Martin had been the one to coax him time and time again. Chris had felt the same way, but had tried to be good. Eventually he gave in completely, his resolve dissolving away completely and permanently. It was hard to believe that Martin would be the one to finally put a stop to it.

If Martin could get away with chipping at his resolve all those years ago, maybe Chris would take a page out of his book. This whole break-up seemed rushed, as though it was Martins way of dealing with guilt over circumstances beyond his control… to some degree at least. It wasn’t fair, and Chris wouldn’t let his brother fall on the sword like this.

The two of them needed to talk. To really talk. He felt the bed dip slightly as someone, presumably Martin, sat down behind him. Had he come to take everything back? He still felt emotional, but it was better to talk sooner than later he supposed. Chris rolled over and locked eyes with himself. Wait, what? There, on the edge of the bed, sat himself, wearing a red sweater. Chris’ eyes widened when he realized that it was ‘Toodles’ or a Zachbot in disguise. He watched his doppelganger wink and put a finger over his lips.

If a Zachbot was here, that meant Martin could be in trouble. He had to warn his brother. As Chris tried to scream, Toodles leapt forward, straddling him and clasped his hand on his mouth. A small opening appeared in his other hand and a slightly purple coloured gas seeped out. The robot was heavy, and no amount of twisting or bucking would dislodge it.

“Shhh, it’s okay. Just relax and take a couple deep breaths. You’ll feel better soon, I promise.” His own voice cooed down at him. Toodles grinned, watching him struggle to hold his breath. Chris pulled at the hand over his mouth but the robot was too strong. Biological instincts kicked in and Chris couldn’t fight it any more. He took in a deep breath of the strange gas, feeling instantly at ease physically. Toodles moved his hand away from Chris’ mouth and carded it through his brown hair instead. “There you go. You’re doing so good.”

There was a knock at the door, but Chris found he couldn’t move. Like all his insides had been replaced with sand, he could barely lift his arm. It was an alarming feeling, but he couldn’t even make a sound. He was essentially paralyzed.

“Sorry about the nerve gas, but I can’t have you ruining our plans.” Toodles frowned as he picked up a blanket and draped it over his prone body. Chris was essentially blind and paralyzed now. The panic set in, but there was nothing he could do. Instead, he listened as Toodles answered the door, praying whoever it was would notice that it wasn’t the real Chris.

-

Martin could physically feel the guilt eating him alive as the anger ebbed out of his system. What had he just done? He had lost control and panicked. Was he really doing the right thing? He loved Chris more than anything, and the pain he was most likely causing his brother was tearing him up. The pain he was causing himself was bad enough. All he wanted to do was wrap his arms around the smaller man and pull him close. On the other hand, he wanted to wrap his hands around his neck and punish him for being so stupid.

And why should Chris be punished? He had done nothing wrong. It didn’t make sense. Martin couldn’t control himself anymore. He felt like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde lately. In this moment he knew how he was treating Chris was horrible and wrong, but when he and his brother got too close it was like unleashing some sort of demon inside him. He wanted to take and cause pain. It scared Martin.

Not only could he not control these strange new urges, but with Donita and Gourmand hunting Martin down, at least Chris wouldn’t be stuck in the middle. Martin didn’t know how many more hospital visits he would be able to handle. If Chris died because of him, he doubted he’d be able to go on himself.

No, this was for the best. He doubted he’d ever love anyone was much as he loved Chris, but he couldn’t be the reason for his brother to suffer. Martin made a promise that he would never leave, so this was his way of honouring it. Even if the two of them would have to be miserable.

Even though it was the right thing to do, it didn’t make the task any easier. They lived and worked together after all. The ‘break-up’ had been heart wrenching to say the least. How could they face each other ever again? He was so embarrassed by the way he acted. The animals needed them though. Their research projects and funding depended on them working flawlessly together. This had to pass...

Step one would be talking it out with Chris. Now that the wound had been lanced, so to speak, perhaps they would be able to talk. The emotions were still raw, but maybe the would be able to really communicate now that the subject was out.

Martin knocked on his brother’s door, but there was no answer. After a moment, he reached up to knock again, but the door swung open. There, framed in the doorway with a dark room behind him, stood Chris. He still wore his cargo shorts but had swapped his sweater for a black tee. It was a really good look that he didn’t get to see very often on his brother. The look on his face, however, gave Martin a small shiver. Chris was angry.

“What do you want.” Chris said more of a statement than a question. He seemed cold, but Martin supposed he understood.

“Hey. I felt bad about how what I said and did… I wondered if you-“ He started, but Chris immediately cut him off. “I’m good, thanks.”

“Come on, Chris. Don’t be angry. Let’s talk about this.” Martin begged. He didn’t realize how angry his bother would be. If he was being honest, he had expected him to be sad, maybe try to get him to change his mind. Angry was a viable reaction, but Chris seemed past anger. Almost livid.

“No, the time for talking is past. Without even consulting me, you decided we’re over. So we’re over. I don’t need you trying to hurt me just so you can get off on my pain.” Chris poked his finger into his chest, shoving him back a bit. “What we had was a joke. It was a huge mistake that I will never repeat, I can promise you that.”

Martin was stunned. Chris was right, but it didn’t stop the words from cutting him deep.

“I wasted years on our disgusting habit. In fact, I didn’t even want it, it was you that pressured me into it, time and time again. Some big brother you are.” Chris spat at him, careful to keep his voice down. “Taking advantage of me. You’re disgusting.”

Chris was right. In the beginning, the two of them had ‘slipped up’ after a party, where they both had been drinking heavily. With no inhibitions or doubts, the two of them had spent an amazing night together. The next morning, Martin knew he was addicted. It was wrong, but he knew he would never get enough of his brother. Even the morning after he was itching to go again. Chris, however, had been hesitant. His conscience and restraint had returned with a clearer head, and he had felt guilty and embarrassed.

Martin knew Chris had felt the same as him deep down inside, but wasn’t able to accept his feelings as easily. So he slowly wore his brother down, gradually eroding his self control until he started to crack. Lingered touches, longing stares, and just letting his brother stew. One unexpected night, Martin was reading in bed when Chris stormed in, slammed the door behind him and admitted defeat. Their second time had been just as amazing as the first.

But it would have never happened again if it wasn’t for Martin. If he had respected his brother’s wishes, maybe the two of them would have moved on. Sometimes it felt like there might have been a spark between Chris and Aviva, but it didn’t matter because they had had each other. Martin didn’t like thinking about his brother and Aviva, but it might have happened if it wasn’t for him. Chris could have married, maybe had children, but instead gave in to his perverted brother.

“You’re right… I’m sorry, Chris.” He said quietly. “This really is for the best then.”

“Yeah. I guess you’re right.” Chris said, crossing his arms and leaning against the door frame. The two of them stared at each other, unsure of how to end this awkward moment. Finally, Martin sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“I really am sorry. I know you’ll be angry for a while, but I’d rather you were angry than in danger.” He said as he placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder. There was a faint shock of static electricity that seemed to almost travel up his arm. As Martin walked away, a headache started to bloom in his head. It was probably from all the stress of the evening, but he decided to call it a night early.

-

Chris had heard everything that Toodles said to Martin. And everything Martin had said back. When his brother apologized and took the blame for their whole relationship, Chris’ heart broke. It wasn’t like that. Martin had never pushed himself on him. He stayed back and let Chris deal with his emotions, only prodding here and there. Whatever Zach was trying to accomplish by sending his Zachbot in, Chris knew for sure it was to at least sabotage the brother’s relationship.

There was nothing he could do at the moment, and it was sheer torture.

“How did I do?” Toodles smiled as he crawled back in to bed and peeked under the blanket. “I had to borrow your memories from the last time I used your identity. If it makes this whole thing easier, Zach has no idea about you and your brother. Would you like me to keep it a secret?”

Chris could do nothing but glare. Why was this Zachbot being so nice to him? Maybe not nice, he thought as he laid there, unable to move, but nicer than he could have been given the situation.

“In fact, I wouldn’t take this too personally.” Toodles casually explained while he tucked the blanket around Chris’ prone body. “I just need to take your place for a few weeks. Zach will take good care of you in the meantime. He promised me.”

His robot-double then picked him up, honeymoon style, and made for the nearby window. Chris needed to help Martin, but there was nothing he could do as a prisoner trapped in his own body. Instead he closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. Once he gained his movement back, he would be able to escape. It was Zach after all. How hard could it be?

-

Martin slept restlessly that night. His headache plagued him, even in his dreams.

He found himself walking through a forest, temperate, or coastal, if the abundance of Coast Douglas-fir and various fern species were anything to go by. It was warm, and the sun was peaking through the canopy, casting little sunbeams all along the forest path. It was peaceful and quiet, and somewhere in his subconscious, he could feel some of the headache ebb away.

Up ahead was a small clearing, but something seemed off. Mixed within the lush greens and browns of the forest, was a garish pink. It was out of place and ruined the mood of the forest, but he couldn’t help the small spark of excitement that threaded through him. As he investigated further, he realized it was a large pink jet, one he was very familiar with.

That’s when he saw her. Donita Donata was laying on her stomach on a reclining chair, soaking in the sun. Under her frilly bikini, cinnamon coloured skin glowed in the sunlight, glistening with sweat. Her maroon hair was un-styled and blowing slightly with the wind. Martin couldn’t tear his eyes away as she rolled over, stretching her arms above her head, showing off all her curves.

Without another thought, he crossed the threshold of the trees. Donita glanced over her sunglasses as he cast a shadow across her body, and smiled. Without words, he crawled on top of her, straddling her thighs. He ran his hands over the length of her body, skimming over the front of her bikini to cup her breasts. She tilted her head back and let out a soft moan as he proceeded to trace his thumbs over both nipples. He felt them harden after a few passes, and he grasped each one between his thumb and index fingers, gently rolling and tugging.

She had arched her back, pressing her body flush against his. He could feel her hands trying to force their way between their bodies, and only then did he realize that he was grinding himself against her leg like a schoolboy. She fumbled blindly with the buttons of his trousers, and he reluctantly released her nipple to aid her. Nudging her hands out of the way, he whipped the buttons open, already beginning to struggle free of the offending material. Then he tore at her bikini bottoms, ripping the delicate strings that held it together. As soon as her legs were free, he was upon her, reclaiming her mouth and trailing a hand between her thighs. He ran his index finger over her clit, tracing circles in her slickness. She spread her legs wider, reaching across her body to take him into her hands. He struggled to keep a hold on his mind when her fingers brushed his cock.

Somewhere deep down inside him told him this was wrong, but he pushed the voice away, especially when she pulled him back to her.

"Fuck me, Martino. I need you inside me." She moaned as she grabbed at his shoulders and dragged him over her. He settled between her knees and swiped his swollen tip through her folds, moistening it. A low sound escaped her, and it was nearly his undoing. Shit, what was happening to him? What was he becoming? He plunged into her, sinking as deeply as he could, and she cried out something unintelligible.

The rest of the dream seemed to blur, but it ended with the two of them crying out each others names. Again, Martin felt like he had done something wrong, and a sense of guilt, but he slept deep and soundly after.


	5. Chapter 5

Chris awoke rather abruptly, as he was dropped unceremoniously to the ground. As he blinked away the stars in his vision, he realised that he had fallen asleep while being carried by ‘Toodles’ the robot. It was embarrassing that he had let himself get so relaxed around the enemy. He supposed the mysterious gas had something to do with it. 

Speaking of, he had use of his body again. Chris groaned as he sat up, mentally checking himself over. That was an experience he didn’t want to repeat.

The loud clang of a metal door slamming shut pulled his attention outward. He found himself locked in a very familiar cell, aboard a dimly lit ship. 

“Zach.” He sighed, before looking up and confirming his suspicions. He was surprised to see Gourmand standing next to the thinner, pale man. The two of them teaming up wasn’t necessarily shocking, but it still sent his heart racing. It was incredibly intimidating having them both staring down at him. 

Chris tried his best to be calm, but a tremor of fear ran through him regardless. The last time Chris had seen the chef was before he was sacrificed to the ocean and almost drowned. He dug his fingers into the hard metal surface below, as if to reassure himself he was safe. Well, safe from drowning, at least. The room had Zachbots guarding the exits, which brought back memories of being beaten by them those many months ago. No, he was kidding himself if he felt any shred of safety in this moment. 

“So what’s the plan this time? Have your Zachbot switch places with me, and what… distract everyone from your plans?” Chris said casually, doing his best to disguise the fear in his voice with a false confidence he didn’t really feel. Gone were the days of these guys being bumbling idiots. They were starting to work together, to hone their increasingly dangerous plans, and had lately seemed to be targeting the Kratt brothers over animals. 

“Oh no, Chris 2.0 here is going to sway your brother back to Donita.” Zach admitted openly. No small talk, just straight to the point, Chris guessed. 

“He’d never go back to her willingly.” The younger Kratt blanched at the thought. There was no way…

“Is that what you think? He’s been hiding it well, but he’s slowly regressing. You taught him to relax and the residual programming from my collar is slowly seeding itself again in the back of his mind. The near-death experience of his dear brother has really jump-started the process.” Zach explained, nodding to Gourmand. The chef laughed, but didn’t move his intense gaze from Chris. It made the younger man nervous. Then Zach placed his hands on Toodles shoulders and continued. “Now add that to constantly being near my technology; his regression will become accelerated.”

Oh Martin. If that was true, then his brother was in danger. Maybe it was already too late. Chris had seen how sharp of a turn in personality Martin had had over the last two days. How could Chris stop the collar’s leftover programming… something he couldn’t even see? 

“Why? Why are you doing this? I understand Gourmands motive, but you’re already rich. What could Donita possibly be offering you?” Chris said, crossing the cell and gripping the bars. 

“Who says she’s offering me anything?” Zach said, offended. “We’re good friends, you know. She’ll probably owe me a favour, but I’m doing this to get you Wild Rats out of my way. Things were good when Martin was on our side. He was a friend. You? You were the loose thread that no one seemed to be able to cut.”

“Once we have Martin back in our possession, we’ll let him and Donita decide what to do with you.” Gourmand finally spoke up. “A wedding present of sorts.”

Chris clenched his teeth and glared at the floor. A wedding gift. He couldn’t let Martin marry that bitch. Once again though, he found himself powerless to do anything. He growled and pulled at the bars, but it only made him feel stupid when the two men laughed at his reaction. 

“I’ll find a way to stop you guys. I’d die before I would let Martin marry Donita.” Chris spat.

“And I’m sure nothing would make Donita happier.” Zach shrugged and smiled. “In fact, we should tell her the good news. Perhaps she’ll want to come down and see our new guest with her own eyes.”

The two men laughed again and left him to stew in his own thoughts. Only Toodles was left behind to watch him, but the robot seemed content to sit back and fiddle with his zipper. Chris could hear the video phone in the next room and did his best to tune out any of that conversation. He didn’t think he could listen to any more bad news. Besides, now was the time to act.

Chris knew with two bad guys and an intelligent robot watching him, he’d never escape. His only opportunity to try was now. This time, however, he had no creature power suit to help him. Toodles must have seen him looking around frantically for an escape because he leaned in with a smirk. “I could help you, you know.”

“You’ve helped me enough, thanks.” Chris hissed as he pulled a small pocket tool from his shorts. Thank God they hadn’t searched him. He flipped open the screwdriver portion, and began in vain to pick the lock. He had no idea what he was doing, and was 90% sure locksmiths didn’t normally do it with a blunt tool like this.

“Come on, Chris. The payment wouldn’t be steep, I promise... I just can’t guarantee how your escape would unfold after I open the cell door.” Toodles laughed as he watched Chris chip the screwdriver head.

Chris stopped and stared at the robot. What was he playing at? Kidnaping then offering to free? He momentarily marvelled at the programming that had to go in to artificial intelligence, before he shook his head and pulled his thoughts back to the present.

“I don’t know what game you’re playing, but I’m not going to fall for your tricks.” He said as he pulled open a few of the other tools and eyes then critically. Maybe none of them would work, but it felt better to try than to give up.

“When we first met, I downloaded your image and memories. Since then, Zach put more work into my programming, so I'm a really advanced AI.” The robot explained, as he reached over and unlocked the cell. Then he stepped inside and placed his hands on Chris’ shoulders. Maybe it was because he felt comfortable looking at his own image, but Chris didn’t immediately push the robot back. “Now I want to experience everything you’ve experienced. I’m obsessed with you and all your memories, Chris.”

Chris didn’t have time to process the new information before Toodles wrapped a hand around his head and lower back, pulling him in for a kiss. Although the robot appeared to, and even felt like it had flesh and skin, it was ice cold. Chris pushed back, shocked.

“There, your payment is complete.” His doppelganger grinned and stepped back. 

“What the hell was that?” Chris questioned, unable to make his brain function. He had just been kissed by a Zachbot. By himself! What else would this crazy day bring? 

Toodles shrugged and stepped aside. “I’d love to keep making deals with you, but you’d better get going while you still can.”

Chris wondered if he had bumped his head a little too hard when he was dropped. It didn’t matter though. The Zachbot was right though, he had to get moving. There would be time to re-think his life choices later on. The other Zachbots stationed around the room didn’t seem bothered by the fact he was roaming freely, so he made haste towards the door.

Like a typical escape cliché, the door of the jet was sealed closed, and he could hear footsteps approaching from the other room. As Chris looked behind, he could see Toodles silhouette, pointing upwards. His gaze lifted to the vent systems. Chris sighed, thankful for being the climbing brother.

Adrenaline fueled his muscles as he scaled the walls and pried off the vent cover. He could hear raised voices from the other room, and knew his absence had been noted. He didn’t bother to muffle the sound of the grate dropping to the floor, and instead made haste to climb through the duct. 

A short distance in, he met with another vent that was letting the night air seep in. A hard kick to the metal and he found himself in the open air. Chris’ heart plummeted again when he realized this was a different ecosystem than the Tortuga had been in. They weren’t in Japan anymore.

There was no sign of the coast, but the trees and vegetation reminded him of the Eurasian boreal zone. They must be on the main land, anywhere in China, Korea or even Russia. He was officially separated from his team. He knew how to contact his team, but what if they were miles from the nearest town? How rural of an area was this? If they were in Russia, he could be on foot for weeks…

“Just give up, Wild Rat.” A voice called from below. Zach had exited the jet and was standing in the light flooding from inside. “We’re so remote you won’t survive on your own without supplies or gear.”

No, no, no. This was his only chance. He’d rather die in the forest on his own, than go back in the ship. Martin needed him, and he could do this. Praying he didn’t break his ankles, he took a running leap off the top of the jet and into the trees. 

He managed to grab a branch, and though he wrenched his shoulder painfully, he swung to the ground and started running. He could do this! Chris leapt over a fallen log and through some brush before coming to a sudden halt. A large watercourse wound its way through the trees, and on the closest bank, Gourmands ugly boat was anchored.

The sight only heightened his anxiety further, sending him into a near-blind panic. All he knew was that he needed to get away. Before he could make another move, something tackled him from behind, sending him careening into the frigid water.

-

Chris realized that he had blacked out again, when he was dropped heavily, once again, into the metal cell. He had failed to escape. The younger man tried not to beat himself up, knowing deep down inside that it was probably futile from the beginning, but he couldn’t help the disappointment that settled over him.

As he huddled in to a ball, teeth chattering from the chill of being soaked, he decided then and there he wouldn’t stop trying to escape. He would use every waking hour planning and attempting. Martin needed him and he had to help his brother, regardless of how he was acting.

“I told you it was pointless.” Zack said as he knelt down to eye level. Chris buried his head in his arms. He wasn’t ready to deal with his failure so quickly. 

“I don’t envy you at this moment, Zack. He’s going to be a very slippery prisoner to hold on to.” Gourmand laughed, slapping the inventor on the back, causing him to throw his hands out in order to stay upright.

“I underestimated my inventions, that’s all.” Zach said, standing up and walking over to the Chris-bot. Chris peaked over his arm to see Toodles, a slight twitch in his movements. Had it been the robot that threw him, and then rescued him from the water? Was that why it seemed to be on the fritz? Chris felt strangely double-crossed that his escape had been cut short by the very robot who released him. Then again, it was Zach’s invention. It was either playing a trick on him, or it had no power to disobey a command from its master.

“You are right though, babysitting Green Guy sounds like it’s going to be exhausting. I didn’t want to have to do this, but I suppose I’m left with no choice.” Zach let out a dramatic sigh. He dug through on of his cabinets before turning back to them with a box in hand. “This is one of the collar prototypes I made for your brother. It will make you listen to commands, but unfortunately won’t brainwash you. Donita wanted full control, so this one got scrapped.”  
The hair on his neck stood up. That collar had been meant for his brother. It wasn’t strong enough to control him, but it could make someone obey commands? Would Chris really find himself sporting a collar of his own in the very near future? Would he end up like Toodles, unable to defy a command, regardless of your true feelings? Fate really was being particularly cruel to the brothers lately, he thought to himself. Two enslaved brothers, one aware while the other was not.

“I think that’s good. It would be a shame to put out his fire.” Gourmand smiled down at him. He cringed at the older man. He didn’t want the collar, and he definitely didn’t want this new found attention. If he was forced to do whatever he was told, that could be bad news. He might be used against his brother and the rest of the Wild Kratts, and Chris just didn’t think he would be able to bare it.

“You can’t do this, Zack.” He half begged, half demanded.

“You guys say that a lot, you know. I can do whatever I want!” Zach growled at him. Chris watched as Gourmand and Zach stepped inside the cell. He felt like a cornered animal, only able to back himself in to the corner. If they put that collar on him, he somehow doubted it would ever come off again. After his brother didn’t see through Toodles disguise, he knew there was no one coming to rescue him. And his only chance of escape had failed. This collar felt like it would be a life sentence. Chris wondered if this was how Martin had felt when faced with the decision of putting the collar on or letting his brother die.

Gourmand reached for him, able to manhandle him easily. He pulled him against his chest, wrapping one arm around his shoulders. His other hands held his arms behind his back, sandwiched between their bodies. Chris tried not to think about how close his hands were to Gourmands junk.

Chris reared his head back as Zach approached, collar in hand. He could feel Gourmand’s breath on his neck but he couldn’t get far enough away from that collar. As Zack slipped it around his slender neck and buckled it on, Chris was almost disappointed in the anticlimactic response of his body. No pain, no mind-altering feelings. Nothing. When Martin had worn his collar, it had been an instant change. Maybe this collar didn’t work. As he was released, he lifted his hand to touch it. A quick command halted him.

“No, Chris Kratt. You’re not allowed to touch that collar. Ever.” Zach said, grinning as Chris dropped his hand. It wasn’t that he wanted to, it was as though his body wouldn’t listen to him. He tried to force himself to reach up and grab the collar but all it resulted was a painful headache.

“You can’t keep me here forever. Someone will eventually figure it out.” He said, crossing his arms defiantly. 

“He’s right, you know.” Gourmand said scratching his chin. “What is your plans for him now?”

“Well, we definitely can’t let him go. I’ll keep him as a servant until he’s ready to be handed over to Donita, I suppose.” Zach shrugged. “I had planned to keep him drugged and locked up, but I suppose I can’t trust my own inventions.”

“You have tons of Zachbots to do your bidding. Lend him to me. I could use some help on my boat.” Gourmand smiled like a cat. “What?” Both Chris and Zach exclaimed at the same time.

“You said it yourself, we can’t let him go. You were grumbling earlier about having to keep him around. Well, I’d be glad to take him off your hands. I think I have a pretty good idea of what I’ll use him for.” Chris clenched his hands. Somehow, he preferred Zach to Gourmand. He could only hope that Zach would take pity on him. But as usual, he was disappointed by the inventor.

Zach’s nose wrinkled, but he after a moment he shrugged. “Whatever. As long as he’s out of my way.”

“What? No! You can’t just give me over to this psychopath. The last time we met he tried to kill me.” Chris pleaded with his captor. In the background, Toodles looked on in horror, but didn’t speak up.

“You forget, green guy. I almost had my Zachbot kill you when you got in my way. You’re not safe with any of us.” Zach said as he waved his hand in dismissal. Chris pressed his lips together and said nothing. There was nothing he could do or say to wake up from this living nightmare. “At least you’ll be well fed.”

“Come, my little green grape. Let’s go to your new home.” Gourmand sneered, and turned to leave. When Chris hesitated, the chef added, “Follow me, now.” and his feet started moving against his will.

He cast one final glance back at Toodles, but Zach had already descended on the robot, probably ready to re-program the faulty encoding. He was officially on his own now, and as he exited the ship, his heart felt like lead because there was nothing she could do to stop what was happening.


	6. Chapter 6

The hardest part about travelling around the word was jet-lag. One morning you could wake up in Mexico, and in the evening you could be going to bed in Somalia. Blackout curtains were a must in the Tortuga, since even though it was the afternoon somewhere, didn’t mean the Wild Kratts crew’s internal clock was on the same schedule. Martin usually had the hardest time adjusting to the time zones. He hated mornings, unlike his brother, who was naturally a morning person.

Today, though, was different. Martin woke up refreshed. A quick glance at his clock told him it was 10:00 am, Japan Standard Time. For a moment he panicked, thinking he had slept in and the crew forgot to wake him, until he remembered it was their day off today. Usually he would have rolled over and went back to sleep, but Martin was fully rested.

Had his sleep been that deep? He couldn’t recall any of his dreams, but he knew they had to have been good. Martin sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He hadn’t been sleeping well lately, and it had to be because of his warring emotions regarding his brother. After he finally ended things with him last night, maybe his mind was finally at rest.

A small voice at the back of his head was screaming at him that this wasn’t what he really wanted. Something was wrong. But as soon as he acknowledged it, it stopped. He furrowed his brows. That was weird… was he starting to hear voices now? With all his lack of sleep lately, it wouldn’t surprise him if he was going slightly crazy.

Martin decided he wouldn’t dwell on it. He was officially rested now, and that was all that mattered. Throwing on his wetsuit, he decided he would sneak in a swim before breakfast. As he dressed, he thought about yesterday and how Chris had tried to hide the marks on his body… about how he ended up getting another injury because of him.

He had a sudden overwhelming desire to put his brother in his place. How dare Chris ruin his good mood, even if it was just through a memory. Martin felt angry, but deep down he knew something was wrong with that. Again he shook off the unexplained feeling and left his room.

The Tortuga was quiet. The rest of the crew had probably already woken up, had breakfast, and moved on with their day. Except Koki, at least. She was also an avid morning-hater like himself. Martin didn’t mind the quiet though. He wasn’t quite ready for human interaction yet anyways. Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on his side today.

An alarm suddenly blared through the control room, causing him to jump. Martin jogged over to the computer console and pulled it out of sleep-mode. According to the computer warning, some poachers were in the area catching bull sharks. If he had to guess, they were probably cutting fins… The coast guard was on its way, but the Tortuga was closest.

“What’s happening?” Aviva asked as she entered the control room. Jimmy and Chris followed closely behind. The two brothers caught each other’s eyes. Chris didn’t seem too hostile today, thankfully. If anything, his expression was guarded.

“Poachers.” Martin said, unable to tear his eyes away from his brother. Part of him wanted to run over and wrap his arms around him. A spike of rage went through him but faded as fast as it appeared. Martin blinked. These mood swings rocked him as they seemingly came from nowhere. He had to remind himself that he still had that dark part of him buried deep down.

“We’re the closest to them.” Aviva said, peering over Martin’s shoulder to the console. “You guys should go check it out. At the very least you may be able to slow them down before the coastguards arrive.”

Martin nodded and grabbed his creature power suit without another word, and after a moment, so did Chris. His brother’s actions seemed delayed today, but after last night, he wasn’t going to question. Martin felt slightly guilty that he himself didn’t feel rocked by yesterday’s events. He just prayed that his brother had calmed down, and that they would still be able to work together.

-

It wasn’t hard to find the poachers. The water in the surrounding area was murky red, and to add to the grim scene, there were even a couple de-finned shark corpses floating nearby.

Martin wondered if it was better to not deal with the usual, idiotic buffoons like Zach and Paisley, or worse, because these poachers could actually be clever and dangerous. Martin shook his head. He supposed it didn’t matter, since the idiots they usually dealt with were becoming smarter; more dangerous. Martin loved his job, but he wondered if it was really worth all the headaches.

The brothers decided to get on the poachers boat by posing as the sharks they were catching. It was a bit of a foolish plan, but Martin was relieved they had both agreed so easily. They might have personal issues, but it was nice to know they could still put animals ahead of their problems. They were the reason why he could deal with all the bullshit on a daily basis, if he needed to.

Martin transformed and immediately headed towards the boat. Once they were on board they could… He suddenly realised he was alone. A quick glance behind showed his brother staring back at him, puzzled. Chris couldn’t seem to activate his creature power suit.

“What’s the problem?” Martin questioned him, as he swam back. Chris was slowing them down and they didn’t have time to lose.

“I-I don’t know. I can’t seem to get it to activate.” His brother seemed flustered. Martin’s first reaction was to get angry, but he pushed it down. Chris had been through a lot the last 24 hours and probably wasn’t feeling himself.

“It’s okay. Head back to the Tortuga and get Aviva to look at the suit. I can handle this on my own.” He placed a hand on Chris’ shoulder and smiled. His brother glanced at the hand on his shoulder and then jerked away.

“Don’t.” Chris said, putting some distance between them. Martin felt hurt and angry. He was throwing his brother a bone, only to have it thrown back in his face. That quiet voice in the back of his head reminded him that it was his fault that Chris was upset, but he ignored it.

Not trusting himself to speak without saying something nasty, he turned his back on Chris and headed towards the boat.

-

Out at sea, Toodles sighed. He sure hoped that Zach had done a decent job of waterproofing his body. The water and salt would ruin his programming. Which, to be honest, didn’t feel like it was running at capacity today. Checking his internal memory, he could tell some events from yesterday had been altered or removed. His programming had been updated as well. In all honesty, he felt a little less “human” than usual. He searched Chris’ memories in his internal database but found them to be dull and foggy. Zach had tried to reign him in by locking him out of the memories and toning down his artificial intelligence programming. A less human robot wouldn’t defy orders. Now it was a struggle to properly remember how Chris Kratt would react to certain things.

  
He would have to try to fix the problem himself later. For now, he would have to try to adapt and learn.

Toodles watched Martin transform and gave it a try himself. Apparently Chris’ creature power suit wouldn’t work with inorganic body. It didn’t surprise him, but he still felt a little disappointed. It would have been a fascinating experience. Instead he had to send Martin off alone.

He was still a little off, but given a few more hours he would be back to normal. At least this inability to transform would give him some time to get back to normal. A plan started to slowly form in his head as he headed back to the Tortuga.

-

On his own, it would be stupid to get onto the ship by himself. Instead, Martin delayed the poachers by freeing any sharks caught in the nets, and scaring any wildlife away. It was a relatively easy job, but still an annoying way to spend his day off. Especially having to do it on his own.

The coast guard showed up shortly after he arrived, and Martin swam off. No need to let either party know he was involved. He had faith that the authorities would be able to handle everything.

He called in the news to the Tortuga, but didn’t get an immediate response. He frowned and tried again. Aviva picked up, looking slightly frazzled.

“Sorry, I was in the other room. How’s it going?” She said, pulling off an apron with something green smeared on it.

“It’s done.” He said, annoyed.

“Great Job, MK. Come on back!” Aviva smiled over the video message. She looked over her shoulder and laughed at someone in the background. Martin felt dismissed by the action, and didn’t bother to sign off. He just shut off the transmission and brooded the rest of the way back.

-

Martin returned to the Tortuga, only to find it quiet again. There was no one waiting to celebrate his victory or congratulate him. He wondered why he even bothered to travel with his team, especially when it seemed like he did all the work. No one appreciated him.

There were noises coming from down the hall, and as he poked his head into the kitchen, he found his brother, Jimmy and Aviva arguing. The younger pilot was sitting at the table, smiling and shaking his head at the other two. Aviva was trying to make Chris taste the questionable looking sauce she had made, while Chris was doing his best to resist.

“Come on Chris, just one spoon!” She said as she put the wooden spoon up to his tightly pursed lips.

“I think he’s learned his lesson since the last taste.” Jimmy laughed, and Aviva cast him a disapproving look over her shoulder before she quickly joined in.

“I added more tomato to dilute it though, it won’t be so salty this time!” She giggled as she poked Chris in the nose with the end of the spoon, smearing a bit of the sauce there.

“Hey!” Chris laughed, and Aviva took the opportunity to force the spoon in. Chris made a face as though bracing for the worst, but eventually his features softened. Martin let out a soft gasp. Chris was giving Aviva a look he though was reserved for only him.  
It was a sort of soft exasperation, with a hint humour. He looked at her with affection as he put his one hand up in surrender, while he wrapped the other around hers and pulled the spoon out.

“Alright, alright. I admit that wasn’t as bad as I was expecting.” He and Jimmy laughed as Aviva scowled and crossed her arms.

“Leave the cooking to the pro, Aviva.” Jimmy smiled as he grabbed the spoon and gently nudged her out of the way. Chris took the opportunity to wrap an arm around her shoulder and pull her close.

“It’s okay, Aviva. You might be a terrible cook, but you’re an amazing inventor.” The last of the sentence muffled as Aviva thrust a towel in to his face.

So this was what they were doing while he was out risking his life for some stupid sharks? Martin had seen enough. His jealousy had spiked and he had to put a stop to whatever this was. He only took one step before a hand appeared on his shoulder. He glanced behind to see Koki holding a finger over her lips and motioning for him to follow her.

“What?” He said once they were out of sight from the kitchen.

“I wouldn’t go in there if I were you. Aviva is cooking.” She shook her head. “I tried to warn your brother but it was too late for him.”

“Oh, right. Thanks.” He said distractedly, glaring back at the kitchen.

“Hey, is everything okay?” Koki asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. The action reminded him of Chris from earlier, and like his brother, he jerked away from the touch. Koki seemed startled, but didn’t say anything.

“I’m fine. Did they fix Chris’ suit?” He grumbled.

“Aviva didn’t find anything wrong with it.” Koki said, tilting her head in thought. “We’ll have to test it out again later today. Hopefully not on another emergency.”

Koki took another glance in the kitchen and shook her head. “You want to help me calibrate the gear? I know it’s not the most exciting, but-“

“No.” He said, and then when he saw her crestfallen face, he added: “No thanks. I think I’m going to go for a walk.”

“Alright. Oh, and great job today. It can’t be easy doing a mission on your own.” She said as she walked away. Martin felt instantly guilty. He had been a bit of a jerk and she had been the only one to acknowledge him so far. He sighed and headed for the door. Maybe the walk would help clear his mind.

  
-

 

Martin knew instantly that this had been a mistake. He was alone on the beach with nothing but his dark thoughts to accompany him. And right now, the only thing he could think about was Chris. And Aviva.

 

She didn't deserve him. Was Chris even into women? Apparently so, judging by the way he acted around her. Had he always had feelings for Aviva but kept it quiet because they were in a relationship? Martin felt both betrayed and disgusted. His brother had feelings for someone else while they carried on an incestuous relationship. He rubbed his hands down his face and sighed. Maybe it was time for him to take a break from the Wild Kratts. He knew he could do better alone than with his backstabbing brother, and lecherous Aviva. 

 

His headache had returned from yesterday and was getting worse. A small crab was walking by, and without thinking, Martin gave it a solid punt, sending it flying into the water. Part of him was horrified at his actions, but mostly he felt better. He even let out a small bark of laughter, watching it flail as it sailed into the sunset. He wouldn't let himself feel too bad. The crab would be fine. It was just a stupid little crustacean anyways. 

 

-

 

Martin sat through more shameless flirting between his brother and Aviva throughout dinner. He barely ate, unable to unclench his teeth long enough. If anyone noticed him being on edge, no one said a thing. Instead, everyone was so focused on Chris’ awful attempt at the pronunciation of Spanish nouns. Apparently Aviva had decided to tutor Chris in Spanish. Probably to get closer to him, Martin thought. He knew she had a thing for his brother; it was painfully obvious. Chris had never acted on it, for obvious reasons. But now?

He watched his brother lean in and focus on her lips and he had to grip his chair to stop himself from doing anything rash.

“You’re saying it wrong!” She laughed.

“I’m saying it the exact same way you are!” He laughed back. “Escucha!”

If Martin had to listen to Aviva’s annoying giggle one more time... then she placed her hand on Chris’ forearm and then he cracked. Without saying a word, he pushed his chair back noisily and stomped out of the room.

 

-

 

“I can’t keep you forever, I know this.” Gourmand admitted as he shoved Chris onto the gangplank of his boat. “Especially if Zach’s plan for your brother falls through. I’m just going to have to take some precautions in the inevitable chance you do escape.”

Gourmand stepped into Chris’ personal space and looped a finger under the collar, pulling the younger man closer. Chris had to tilt his head back to avoid getting too close. He could already smell the alcohol on the breath of gourmand and it sent a spike of anxiety through him. He had to stay calm and sharp though, if he was going to get out of this, collar or no collar. Gourmand laughed at his actions.

“Alright, I think we'll need to set some ground rules for the duration of your stay, wouldn't you agree? First of all, you are to stay on my boat at all times unless I say you can leave.” Chris grit his teeth at the first command, but said nothing. There had to be a loophole he could use. He wouldn’t let Gourmand rile him up this early on.

“Second, when you look at me, I want you to picture your brother. At all times.” Chris glared at the floor. He was starting to understand Gourmands game plan a little more. Perhaps he thought using his brother image would somehow win Chris over to the bad guy’s side? Within only a blink, already he could see the older man’s kitchen clogs turn into familiar brown leather hikers. He clenched his eyes. He couldn’t bare to see his brothers resemblance on a man he hated so much.

“Come on, Chris. Look at your brother, let me see those pretty brown eyes.” Unable to deny the command, his eyes snapped up and met with the light blue eyes of Martin. In a small bit of defiance, he pictured his brother wearing a white jacket instead of blue. It helped to take the edge off, but it was still a shock to find himself in front of Martin. Someone who usually lent him strength and comfort when he needed it the most. Sadly, Chris was already falling into the familiar feelings. Seeing his brother standing before him lightened his mood. Had Gourmand really thought this plan through?

Without warning, Gourmand drew back before swinging his fist forward. He connected with Chris’ jaw, throwing him backwards against the wall. The impact had been so sudden and forceful; he saw stars as he tried to push himself back up. It felt like getting hit by a freight train, and it didn’t help that his head bounced against the wall.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Chris demanded before spitting blood. His bottom lip had split.

“You need to learn to hate your brother.” The image of Martin laughed back at him.

So, it wasn’t about winning Chris over, it was about breaking him. Chris shuddered. He would never turn on Martin, and Martin would never turn on him... Although his brother had once before. If Zach was telling the truth, it sounded like it was going to again. 

Gourmand laughed, pulling him close again. He took Chris' chin in his hand and tilted his head up. The chef suddenly leaned forward and captured Chris' mouth for a quick kiss. The brunette was so startled he completely froze. As Gourmand pulled back, he licked away the blood from his split lip. 

Chris' brain had officially shut down. He could only stare at the floor, terrified. Gourmand looped an arm around his shoulder and took him on a tour of his new prison. As his brain rebooted, Chris found himself feeling dirty, and strangely guilty for the actions of the chef. He had to get out of here, before things got out of hand. He tuned in and paid close attention to every detail the chef said regarding his new 'home'. He'd need all the information he could get if he was going to plan an escape.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning. This chapter is a bit non-consensual.

Toodles had to hold back a grin when he finally witnessed Martin crack. He didn’t know how much more flirting with Aviva he could take. He knew he was artificial intelligence, but if he was being honest with his programming, it was too similar to the real Chris Kratt. Toodles found himself more attracted to men than women, and thanks to Chris Kratts memories, he found himself painfully attracted to Martin.

Feigning concern for the dramatic show his brother had just displayed, he excused himself from the table and followed after him. As he wandered through the Tortuga, he thought back to Chris. Now that he had bypassed Zach’s shoddy programming, he could remember everything clearly again. He could only hope that his human copy was faring well. He knew Gourmand though. The man was a predator. It wasn’t hard to find him, after all, he had left the main ramp door open.

Evening had started to settle on the island. The sky was tinted a light pink and the stars were even starting to show through. There was no sign of Martin, but Toodles knew he wouldn’t have gone far. The tide was starting to come in, and they would have to move the ship further inland soon.

He wandered along the turtle ship when someone grabbed him by the collar. Martin shoved him against one of the large metal legs, pinning hips against hips and caging his head by putting both hands against the wall. Martin probably thought he was asserting dominance, but he was playing right into his hands.

“Martin!” Toodles gasped. “What are you doing?”

“What do you think you’re doing?” Martin threw back at him. “Trying to make me jealous?”

“Martin, you broke up with me, remember?” Toodles pushed back against the body pinning him down. “I’m free to do whatever I want now.”

It was too bad that he had to influence the man back to Donita. It seemed like such a waste, especially with the real Chris out of the way, he could have Martin all to himself. Unfortunately, he was sure Zach had programmed a kill switch inside his software. If he didn’t deliver on his mission, he didn’t doubt Zach would assume he had gone rogue and end it all. No, he’d have to makes sure Martin’s residual programming took hold.

Martin just needed that extra push for the programming to really take effect. If he could just wrap a hand around the man’s neck, he could activate the dormant programming left behind from the collar. Unfortunately, his hands were bound by his ‘brother’ at the moment.

Oh well, Toodles thought to himself. This wasn’t the worst situation to find himself in. There was always time later. Toodles searched his database of Chris’ memories and found exactly what he needed to escalate the situation.

-

“You broke up with me, remember?” Martin came back to himself immediately. That’s right. He had broke it off with his brother, but watching him flirt with someone else so unabashedly… so freely. It stung. Something deep down inside was telling him that he should be paying attention to these emotions, but instead he shoved them away. “That doesn’t mean you can pass yourself around the rest of the crew like a little slut.” He said without thinking. It didn’t quite have the effect he had hoped, as his brother let out a small whimper. Since when did Chris like dirty talk? Martin couldn’t help but press his body more flush against his brothers. Chris bit his lip and tilted his head slightly. Martin knew that look; knew that Chris was trying to tempt him. He gripped his brother’s wrists tighter, which only elicited a soft gasp from him. The sound drove him crazy, letting go and grabbing his face before he devoured him.

This was what he really wanted deep down inside. He wanted to be with his brother. The two of them were suddenly frantic. Pulling at each other’s clothes, hands all over each other. It wasn’t until he had gotten Chris’ shirt off that he stopped.  
Martin’s eyes zeroed in on his shoulder, where the creature power suit injury should have been… but it wasn’t there. In fact, none of the markings that Martin had left were there. The bite, the bruises… they shouldn’t have healed this quickly. Chris, unaware of his brother’s scrutiny, tried to pull Martin back in. Everything suddenly felt a little off. The familiar scent of pine his brother often carried on him was missing. Chris loved when his hair was tugged, and often got goosebumps on his arms, but this time, there was no reaction. It was as though this wasn’t Chris at all. It would explain why the creature power suit didn’t work earlier, and why Chris’ reactions had seemed either delayed or completely off. Martin pushed his “brother” off, and spun him around. The ugly scar from when he had stabbed him in the back was gone as well.

“You’re not my brother!” he gasped. This person in front of him was almost perfect. No bumps, no scarring, no freckles, no sunburn. How could he not have noticed earlier? Whoever stood in front of him now was his brothers exact double, and yet completely different. “What is going on? Where is Chris!?”

His ‘brother’ laughed, and winked at him from over his shoulder.

“Come on, Martin. Don’t you remember me?” The double asked as it crossed his arms. A memory of his brother in a red pull-over came to mind, waving his hand and saying toodles. That had been a Zachbot disguised as Chris, who had been held captive by Zach. If this was a Zachbot in disguise, that meant Chris was in trouble.

Like fog clearing, his mind suddenly sharpened. Martin realised he had really hurt his brother over the last few days, mentally and physically. What had possessed him to act this way? Martin didn’t want to hurt his brother, and he definitely didn’t want to stop their relationship, and yet he had. He had had the same rage in his system he felt when he had been under Donita’s control. It was as though some of that mind control had leaked out and manipulated his actions.

Martin wasn’t angry anymore. He was terrified. It was happening all over again somehow, and he had no control over himself. The worst part was that Chris was caught in the middle again and could be in danger.

-

“Shhhh, it’s going to be okay Martin.” Toodles put his hands up, trying to approach without spooking the older man. Martin had started to hyperventilate, which could only mean that the programming had come a bit loose, so to speak. It was probably from the shock to his system that Chris wasn’t who he had thought he was. If Toodles wasn’t careful, Martin might shake the programming’s delicate hold on him, and the plan would be over.

“That’s right, I’m one of Zach’s. I know you remember me now. Your real brother is with him… was with him.” His eyes darkened. “Because of you, he’s now in the hands of Gourmand.”

Toodles reached forward and cupped his hand around the back of Martin’s throat. The residual programming in Martin jumped to life, causing him to gasp and buckle at the knees. Toodles made sure he held tight, as he guided Martin to the ground.

  
“This will only take a minute, I promise.” Toodles spoke quietly to him, as Martin helplessly arched his back and dug his fingers into the soil below him.

“Hmmm. The programming has certainly started to reactivate itself. Probably due to my presence lately. My electromagnetic field has kick started the process. I assume you’ve noticed a sudden spike in your mood?” He said as he knelt down next to Martin and looked him in the eye. “It’s the programming from the collar that laid dormant in your system this whole time. I’m here to fully reactivate it. Just hang on, this might hurt a bit.”

Martin struggled but it was no use, Toodles was stronger.

“It’s alright. You’ll be happier on the other side. Just… take better care of your brother, okay?” The robot said before he rebooted the collars programming.

 

-

 

Chris wasn’t allowed to leave the boat. Whenever he could, he would stand at the bow of the ship, planning and daydreaming. He would try to think of loopholes in Gourmands and Zach’s orders, but it was no use. The collar itself chafed his skin, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t force himself to touch it. One instance ended in a bloody nose and an intense migraine.

Maybe if he kept pushing against the order it would kill him and he could be done with this miserable life. How long had he been on this boat? 2 weeks? A month? Time was starting to blend together. He was hurt that his brother and the team hadn’t realised that the real Chris was missing.

Although maybe Martin had realised it and just didn’t care. If that Chris-bot had done the job Zach sent it to do, Chris wondered if his brother was too far gone by now.

The thought of Martin caused him to involuntarily shudder. Gourmand had said he wanted Chris broken, and Chris was starting to feel the cracks forming. It had only been a short amount of time and he was already being worn down.

Gourmand still looked like Martin, since he hadn’t cancelled that command yet. Chris didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. At first he took comfort and strength from his brothers image, and it meant he didn’t have to look at Gourmands ugly mug all day long. But it also meant he was going to mentally associate everything with Martin’s image. Just thinking of His brother made him cringe.

Gourmand was rough with him, and used him as though he were a slave. Chris supposed that’s exactly what he was. It was bad regardless. He had gritted his teeth as he played server at a dinner party the chef hosted in the boat, and sobbed when Gourmand forced him to make a frittata from critically endangered Giant Ibis eggs. It took days to get the smell of blood off his hands after Gourmand had made him clean the kitchen after skinning an unknown animal. Chris wasn’t sure what species it had been, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to. There was nothing he could do anymore for the poor animals that found their way into Gourmands boat. Every time Chris tried to defy the older man, he was punished and forced to do the task regardless.

Chris didn’t know how much longer he could take it. Just the other night, Gourmand had taken things to a new level.

The man had been gone all day and didn’t appear until later that night, reeking of alcohol and carrying a bag of squawking... something. Chris was already weary, knowing the man had captured some helpless animal, but as he watched the older man stumble around, he could feel his nerves fray. He had encountered a very handsy, slightly tipsy Gourmand, but never a full on drunk Gourmand.

"Come here, Bro." Gourmand's slurred Martin voice made Chris’ skin crawl. He was able to resist, telling himself he wasn’t actually Gourmands brother. A small loophole that he paid for. Gourmand grabbed him by the collar and threw him to the floor, hard. Gourmand then pulled up a chair and took a seat so that Chris was crumpled at his feet.

"This doesn’t have to be hard, Chris. Now come here." He said, this time patting his lap.

Chris swallowed his revulsion, having no other option but to comply. He was even more disgusted to feel something hard as he sat down. Gourmand chuckled and ground his hips up slightly.

"There’s a good boy. I bet you miss having your brothers cock between your legs." When Chris audibly gasped, gourmand laughed out. "That’s right, Donita told me everything. I guess your brother called your name out once instead of hers. A price I’m sure he’ll eventually pay in due time."

Martin had called out his name? That meant that Martin had obviously slept with Donita back when he was under her control... The thought made Chris gag, but he was distracted from those horrible thoughts as Gourmand wrapped his arms around Chris and pulled him flush against his chest. Chris' head rested on a meaty shoulder that he didn’t associate with Martin. I guess gourmand could make him see his brother but not feel him. And that made this whole situation a lot more terrifying.

“Please, Gourmand. Don’t do this.” Chris begged with a audible tremor in his voice. One hand snaked it’s way down his stomach to grasp his soft cock. Chris jumped, causing accidental friction and making gourmand moan.

"You’ve done this hundreds of times, I bet." His voice husky. "When I found out about you two I was fascinated. I found myself jealous of Martin, believe it or not. It’s been a fantasy of mine since then to bend you over the way your brother would. Make you cry out my name instead of his."

Chris was petrified. In the wild when he was faced with a dangerous situation he could usually keep a calm head. Right now he had no fight, no matter how badly he wanted to. He was paralysed with fear.

"But I understand that might be a bit of a stretch at the moment. I can tell you’re terrified, and I want our first time to be real special. I’m not a monster." Gourmand purred in his ear.

Chris realized what he was saying and begged with more urgency. “I don’t want this, please don’t make me.”

The chef ignored his pleas and commanded: “I not only want you to see me as Martin, but I also want you to believe it’s him for just tonight.”

Chris’ mind instantly felt hazy from the command. What were they just talking about? He felt a strange disconnection as his brother lifted him and then bent him over the counter. No, not his brother. Chris knew this wasn’t Martin but he felt like he was high on a drug. His muddled brain couldn’t seem to put two and two together.

"No, no, no." He mumbled as he felt his shirt slid over his head. A pair of very large hips pinned him against the counter, causing his skin to dig into the edge. He didn’t know what was happening, but he knew he didn’t want this. Everything paused.

“No? I thought you loved your brother fucking you.” Martin.. no, not Martin asked.

“Not my brother.” He mumbled.

"Huh, I guess there are limits to the collar. Can’t make you believe stuff. That’s okay, I know you’re still going to enjoy this-"

"Gourmand! What are you doing?" A woman’s shrill voice rang through the room. The body holding him in place stepped back, and Chris crumpled to the ground without the support. Not bothering to stand up, he glanced over to the wall, where a large screen was showing a disgusted looking Donita staring back at them.

"What do you want, Donita?" Gourmand slurred. "I'm obviously busy."

"Can't you do this somewhere a little more private? Maybe not in front of the video phone??" She huffed. "I don't want to see what, or who you do in your personal time."

"Enough. What do you want?" Gourmand repeated.

"I need you to come to my mansion immediately. This is not a request. I've sent my jet to come get you." She explained. Chris would have felt relief that he was rescued, but all he could focus on was the man standing behind Donita. His muddled mind was confused by what he was seeing. How was his brother standing in two places at once? Here, on Gourmands boat, and there, behind Donita?

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel bad for Chris guys

“I hope you didn’t think you would be off the hook that easily.” Gourmand descended on Chris after the phone call ended. Chris let out a sob as he was picked up off the floor like a rag doll. “The jet is on its way, it’s not here yet.”

Gourmand dropped him on the couch. He disappeared from sight for a moment, and Chris stupidly felt a sense of relief, before he heard the sound of a zipper coming down. His head was then dragged forward, and the hot, hard length of a cock rubbed up against the side of his face.

“Open up.” Gourmand, with Martin’s borrowed voice, cooed. 

Chris fought, or tried to. Easier said than done with a hard, unrelenting hand in his hair, the other hand prying open his jaw as the head of that thick, fat cock rubbed against his lips. Trying to disobey the order caused a dull, throbbing pain in his head, which distracted him from what was happening.

Gourmand used the distraction to slide inside. Chris wants to gag at the taste of it, salty and bitter against his tongue. Not that he hadn’t tasted it before of course, but he’d never been forced to before. Gourmand slid deeper into his mouth, stretching his lips and making his eyes tear in spite of himself as he struggled and tried to lurch away. 

Fighting it only made his headache worse. It was happening and there was nothing he could do to stop it at this point. Struggling would only hurt him and make the whole ordeal last longer. Instead he went limp and prayed it would be over soon.

The hands in his hair forced his head to tilt back a bit, forcing him to look up. Thankfully, Gourmand still looked like Martin, even if he didn’t feel like Martin. It wasn’t as comforting as it once might have been, but he would take whatever small comfort he could.

"Good boy," the older man said, panting. "You sure know how to take cock, don't you? Your brother taught you well."

Eventually, Gourmand pulled out, and for a moment Chris felt grateful, desperately gulping in solid breaths of air. The chef wasn’t finished though. He started to pump into his own fist, and with a grunt, came on Chris’ face.

The chef sighed in content, and in an act of unexpected kindness, he grabbed a towel and wiped off Chris’ face. The younger man just laid motionless, still in shock from the last few minutes.

“See, that wasn’t too bad was it?” Gourmand stroked his cheek almost lovingly. Chris still said nothing, opting to stare at the ceiling instead. It was easier than looking into his brothers eyes. The one person Chris had always thought he could count on, but now the one person who was disappointing him each day he hadn’t come to rescue him.

Chris realised he was alone on the couch, lost in his own thoughts. Gourmand had gotten up at some point and was getting ready to depart. Chris curled up in a ball and tried not to hate himself too much.

-

Earlier…

Donita had been living the life of a recluse the last four or five months. Well, she had Dabio, if that counted for anything. But she was lonely. It didn’t help that she was residing in her massive Indian cotton plantation, alone. Again, she had the staff around, but they knew better than to approach her.

After Berlin, she had decided to throw herself into her work. Without her muse, however, she hadn’t managed to come up with any new ideas. Donita had been tempted to use an exotic animal in her design, but she wasn’t ready to face Martino.

The last time she had seen him, he was unhinged. If it hadn’t been for his brother, she didn’t doubt Martin would have attempted to kill her. She and Zach had awoken something dark in him.

If only Chris Kratt hadn’t ruined everything. Donita desperately wanted to see just how far Martin would have spiralled down. The two of them could have ruled the fashion empire, hand in hand. Instead, she was now destined to live her life alone. She couldn’t wait to make Chris pay for what he’d done.

Then one day she heard the news that Zach had a run-in with the brothers. He had been collecting some goats for her so that she could work with natural fibres. When had come back empty handed in terms of animals, but with some interesting news.

Martin Kratt was still effected by the brainwashing. Zach couldn’t be 100% sure, but Martin had gone from timid biologist to cold rage in a minute, like a switch had been flipped. It wasn’t his usual carefree demeanor that he had had before the brainwashing, so Zach was positive there was something there. At the very least he hadn’t been completely ‘healed’.

Then, when she had Gourmand attack the brothers, Chris specifically, she was delighted to hear how her dearest had reacted. Martino had almost physically attacked the chef. That was when she knew deep down inside he still had the effects of the brainwashing and was ready to come back to her. Zach was deployed to see what could be done.

Imagine her surprise when she heard a knock at her door less than a week later, and there on the threshold stood Martin. He had finally returned. Willingly, he had said. Martin had swept her up in his arms, holding her tight and spoke sweet words into her ear. Apologetic, loving words.

“And your brother?” She had asked him.

“You’re my family now, Donita.” He said, shaking his head. “Chris means nothing to me. He separated us before, and he’ll pay for that.”

Every morning since, she had awoken to him curled around her. His strong arms wrapped around her, protecting her even in his sleep. There was no collar around his neck, and no need for the brainwashing pose beam. He was finally permanently brainwashed. There would be no reverting back. He was officially hers.

-

“What do you think?” Donita asked, brushing imaginary dust off the shoulder of Martin’s new blazer. It was tailored to fit him perfectly, and the gold threading on the black fabric brought out the blond highlights in his hair. She sighed as she admired her work.

“It’s beautiful.” He said, running a finger along one of the golden designs. “One of your designs?”

“Yes… The gold thread is made from the fur of a Golden Marmoset.” She said, watching his reaction. Martin’s brainwashing was a curious case. He had all his memories from before the programming changed him, and was very aware of the fact he was indeed brainwashed. It didn’t appear to bother him though. So far at least. Donita felt like she would never be able to drop her guard around him.

“Huh. I always thought their fur was more orange.” He said with a faraway look.

“Do you still like the jacket?” She peered into his eyes, trying to read any emotion from him. He snapped out of his thoughts, looking down at her and gave her a soft smile. “Of course. I love it.” He replied with a gentle kiss to her forehead.

One hurdle down. Now for the next one.

“By the way, I’m going to invite Gourmand to the mansion tonight. He and I are going to discuss the details of a jaguar shipment he has arranged with some poachers.” She said casually. “I would like the pelts when he’s done with the meat. And I’d like him to bring your brother when he comes.”

Martin paused. “Why?” He turned to look at her with a frown. “I don’t trust the collar and I don’t trust him.”

Donita had filled him in on Chris’ current captivity with Gourmand. Many emotions had seemed to play out on his face, but Martin had ultimately settled on happy. “Good.” He had said. “Gourmand will put him in his place and keep him out of our hair.”

“I know, my love. I don’t trust him either… But this will be good for us.” She said, placing her hands on his chest, smoothing out his lapel. “It would give me great peace of mind to know for sure he is under our control. Once we do, we can figure out how best to make him pay for separating us.”

“Donita… I don’t know.” Martin said, capturing her hands and peppering them with small kisses.

“You don’t have to be afraid of him, Martino. Next time it will be me with the knife, not you.” She said, pulling back. She walked over to her mirror and sat down before starting to put on her earrings. Martin sat behind her so he was straddling her between his legs. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lay his chin on her shoulder. The two of them stared at each other’s reflection in the mirror.

“Next time I won’t hesitate. I promise.” He said, kissing her in the crook of her neck. 

-

Chris fell into an uneasy sleep. He hadn’t bothered to move off the couch after Gourmand was finished. The man would be gone for the whole day hopefully, and Chris didn’t have anywhere to go. This was his life now after all. At least since the ‘deed’ was apparently done, his mind had cleared significantly. The botched order to believe that Gourmand was Martin faded and he no longer felt fuzzy and disoriented. Unfortunately he was left with the raw memories that kept resurfacing.

When a meaty hand roughly shook him awake, he was so startled he almost jumped out of his own skin. He looked up into Gourmands smug face. Chris panicked for a moment. The man couldn’t possibly be ready for more, could he?

“Come along, sleeping beauty.” He grinned. “I forgot to mention your presence was requested as well.”

“What?” He rasped out. His throat was feeling rather raw at the moment. “Why? Donita will kill me is she sees me!” Then again, was that such a bad thing? A small voice said in the back of his mind.

“I’ll protect you, sweet pea. Now come on.” Gourmand said as he walked away, waving his hand for him to follow. 

Chris had no choice but to follow. He could do this, he told himself. He wasn’t going to be afraid, he reminded himself. He was going to see Martin… Now that his mind was clear, he remembered seeing Martin behind Donita. Zach had managed to successfully carry out his plan. But Martin had to be suffering surely. Last time he had been brainwashed, his brother had had conflicting emotions, especially when he laid eyes on Chris. 

There was a small chance that if Martin had been brainwashed, that he would snap out of it. Chris knew it was a gamble, but it the small shred of hope made him feel more optimistic than he had in weeks. And after a short flight in the garish pink jet, Chris found himself on the doorstep of a lavish mansion, surrounded by manicured lawns and distant fields of fluffy white cotton plants.

He still held on to that shred of optimism, even as the two men were ushered inside to wait in the foyer. Martin would help him, he had to. It wasn’t until Donita and his brother entered the room that his optimism shattered. 

Gourmand’s little plan to ruin his brothers image had worked, because when he finally laid eyes on the real Martin, he didn’t feel relief or hope. Instead, Chris felt anger, resentment, and worst of all, fear. 

Martin looked healthy and happy. It was a far cry from how Chris was feeling in captivity. Had his brother even put up a fight? Chris had put in so much effort to bring his brother out of the darkness, but had known it was always still deep down inside him. Toodles had said as much when he had seen him last. All the robot had had to do was reactivate the programming, but had Martin fought against it? Maybe Martin had just stopped fighting and taken the easy way out.

Now his brother was holding their enemy’s hand, smiling softly at her as she spoke softly. Chris had never seen Donita look so soft and unguarded. It made him sick. When the two of them finally took notice of their guests, Martin snaked a hand around her waist. It was such a small public display of affection, but it still broke Chris’ heart. Because they were brothers, and their relationship was taboo, they could never have acted that way. It made him jealous, and Chris didn’t like feeling jealous of Donita.

“Well well, if it isn’t Gourmand and his little slut.” Martin said grinning, finally acknowledging the two other men in the room. He may have worn a smile on his face, but when Martin locked eyes with his younger brother, there was no warmth in his eyes. If looks could kill, Chris was sure he’d be dead on the floor. It was filled with such hatred. 

Donita didn’t seem to notice the tension and instead laughed out, wrapping her arms possessively around Martins waist. She too stared into Chris’ eyes, as if challenging him. Chris could of course do nothing but stand there and watch, hands clenched.

“If I’m just Gourmand’s slut, as you put it, then you’re just Donita’s.” He growled back at his brother. Martin narrowed his eyes but did not reply.

“It looks like you’ve done a decent job in training your new pet, Gourmand.” Donita drawled, stepping forward to scrutinize the younger man. “I think he could use more work though.”

“I’m still breaking him in.” Gourmand chuckled, running his hand along Chris’ back and settling on his buttocks. He gave it a squeeze, causing him to jump. “I’ll make sure he knows his place by the next time he sees you.”

“No, Gourmand. This is the last time I want to lay eyes on Chris Kratt, do you understand me?” She stepped back to Martin. “I don’t care if you keep him a prisoner on your filthy boat, or kill him off when you inevitably get tired of him, but I don’t want him to come into our lives again. Prove to me that he is under control, and he is yours.”

“With pleasure.” Gourmand grinned. “I had hoped you would want a display of his obedience, so I brought this along.”

The chef motioned to one of the mannequins acting as a servant, which brought forth a writhing sack. Chris’ stomach dropped at the sight. Gourmand reached in and pulled out two long, golden-brown snakes. 

“St. Lucia Racer Snakes, also known as ornate ground snakes.” Martin supplied to the quiet room. Chris gasped when he realized what exactly they were. There were as few as 18 of these snakes in existence on a tiny island just off the coast of St. Lucia. They were one of the rarest animals in the world. Chris looked around the room and knew these critically endangered animals were doomed. There was no one to save them.

“Please… These snakes are critically endangered!” He sobbed. “Martin, please don’t let them do this!”

“Who do you think made the suggestion and collected them?” Martin said without humour.

“Gourmand… I’ll do anything. Please.” He begged, turning to the chef. “Anything!”

“You forget, my little green grape, I can make you do anything I wish.” He smiled, wrapping an arm around Chris’ shoulder. “Now come on, it’s time. I want you to kill these snakes.”

“Those skins will make a lovely pair of boots.” Martin smiled down at Donita. She leaned into him and smiled back. She added: “Or a nice handbag.”

Chris was absolutely devastated. Even just one of these snakes disappearing would shatter the population dynamics, let alone two. It would all be his fault too. Chris reached for them with shaking hands, cradling them to his body. He tried to resist the order; tried to ignore the blooming pain in his head. Gourmand had already made him do deplorable things to animals, but this was too much. 

“Now, Chris! Get on with it!” Gourmand yelled. 

A trickle of blood trailed from his nose, and Chris was sure his brain would hemorrhage at any moment, but he could no longer disobey the order. His hands moved against his will. He grabbed one of the knives from the chef’s belt and cleanly sliced the heads from the snakes.

The slender bodies writhed in his hands as the heads plopped to the floor. Their mouths open as if screaming. Chris dropped the bodies and the knife, taking shuddering breaths and staring at his hands. They were covered in red blood. As Chris’ brain shut down from the shock, he found himself morbidly fascinated that the snake blood looked so similar to human blood.

“Very good!” Donita cheered, clapping her hands together. “Alright Gourmand, he has passed the test. I don’t believe he’ll be a threat any longer. You may do with him as you will. But first, we get to business.” 

Donita instructed Dabio to clean the foyer and prepare the skins before she turned to leave the room. Gourmand turned around and grasped Chris’ shoulders. 

“You did well. You’ll be rewarded tonight. Until then, you behave my little green pea.” Gourmand ruffled his hair, to Chris’ immense annoyance. “You listen to your brother now, alright?”

The chef left Chris, still staring at his hands, alone with Martin in the foyer. Chris couldn’t stop the tears that rolled down his cheeks. What had happened to Martin, himself, and all the innocent animals that had gotten caught up in this… It was too much for him to handle. It was like a waking nightmare. 

“Enough of that.” Martin chided him. “The snake population was on the down trend anyways. Two little snakes weren’t going to help the population rebound. They’ll be more useful as fashion.”

“An animal is more useful dead?” Chris said angrily, pulling himself out of his misery. “Now I know my brother is truly gone. Replaced by a monster. Those animals deserved to be living-”

“Yeah, yeah. Free and in the wild. Oh, don’t be so dramatic Chris.” Martin laughed in his face. 

“Damn it Martin, you can snap out of this. I know you can!” 

“Don’t waste your breath, little brother.” Martin replied. “I’m happy right here. I don’t remember a time when I was happier.”

“You can’t honestly believe you’re one of them. They don’t even trust you enough to make evil plans with them. They left you to babysit me!”

Martin’s face darkened. “They trust me to control you. In fact, that’s enough talking. From now on, you’ll be an obedient, silent pet.”

Chris had his mouth open to reply, but was unable to say a word. Instead, he clamped his mouth shut and glared at his older brother. He knew deep down he should feel sorry for Martin’s captivity; that this wasn’t his fault, but Chris was angry. All that time, convincing Martin that none of the events were his fault, maybe it was a lie. What is Martin really was happier like this? Chris resented his brother for not helping him or the animals.

“What a good little pet.” Martin purred, taking an advancing step. Chris jumped. Unable to speak, he mirrored his brother, only stepping backwards. He was still angry, but extremely wary. Gourmand may have been trying to make him hate his brother, but he didn’t doubt that Martin wouldn’t hurt him either.

“My poor little brother. Seeing you like this makes me feel things I don’t want to. After all, you deserve to be punished for what you did. Unfortunately, I admit that I still have lingering feelings for you beyond my current control.” Chris shivered in fear at his brother’s voice. This was too much like how Gourmand forced himself on him. It didn’t help that Martin was still crowding him. “Zach will fix it though. I won’t have to suffer knowing you’re getting what you deserve.” 

Panic caused Chris to tremble, leaving him unsteady on his feet. His heart seemed to pound even faster, even harder. Martin was getting closer. Flashes of Gourmand prying his jaw open played in his mind. His raw throat a reminder of what had happened to him only hours ago.

“You’re trembling.” Martin said as he reached forward and cupped his brother’s chin, running a thumb over his lips. Chris closed his eyes and tried taking a deep breath to calm himself, but the breaths were sharp and shallow. He opened his eyes when he realized Martin had stopped moving. Martin had a confused, concerned look on his face.

“You were all vinegar a moment ago. Why are you so afraid now?”

It was a fair question for Martin to ask. As far as he knew, Chris should be melting into a puddle of goo at the moment. It was certainly how Chris had reacted the last time, all those months ago in the jungle. This would have been the one way that Martin could have had the upper hand in this exchange.

“Answer me.” He commanded. Chris was both angry and embarrassed to admit to himself the effect Martin’s voice had on him, ordering him around. Old habits die hard, he supposed.

“Gourmand. He uses your appearance.” Chris explained. Martin would be smart enough to fill in the rest. A flash of rage crossed Martin’s face so quickly that Chris wasn’t sure if he had imagined it. Instead, his brother smiled and let out a soft chuckle.

“I suppose I should thank the chef then. I’m glad the sight can strike such fear in your soft little heart.” Martin said, slowly starting to circle him.

“Martin... please.” Chris pleaded, still terrified. The last time his brother had been brainwashed he had snapped out of it, or at least showed signs of fighting it. This time he not only seemed aware of his brainwashing, but he was acting extra cruel. Aware of Chris’ aversion to him, Martin trailed a finger down his spine, causing him to shiver.

Chris closed his eyes and tried to pull away from Martin’s touch. This wasn’t Gourmand… this wasn’t Gourmand. Chris had to keep repeating it to himself. He was with his brother Martin… But was that really any safer?

“Please help me, Martin. I’m afraid of Gourmand and what he will make me do.” Chris blurted out.

“And what would you have me do?” Martin whispered in his ear. “I’m not interested in releasing you and sending you back to the Tortuga. Donita and I would always be looking over our shoulders. I can’t have you interfering in our plans anymore. You deserve everything you get from the chef and more.”

What was he asking Martin? They couldn’t just set him free. The collar couldn’t come off, especially since his enemies could control him with it. Besides, it was the only bargaining chip he had now. 

“Keep me. Please don’t send me back to Gourmand. Leave the collar on and you can do whatever you want with me.” Chris pleaded desperately. “Brainwash me too if you need. Just don’t abandon me to Gourmand.”

“I don’t think Donita will appreciate your presence around the manor.” Martin said, obviously thinking it through. They might be enemies in his eyes, but deep inside he still cared for his brother. Martin had said it himself.

“Suggest it to her then.” Chris pushed. “Or let her kill me if that’s what she really desires.”

Martin stared at him for a moment, as if turning the idea over in his head. Chris felt more disappointed as the seconds passed. He would have to return to Gourmand’s boat tonight. Who knew if he would ever leave it again? The chef had said he was going to reward him tonight too…

“Let me talk about it with Donita. Hold on.” Martin sighed, leaving Chris alone in the foyer.

It had worked! Hold on wasn’t exactly a command, thankfully. He knew it would be a gamble, but he had to try to get Martin to leave the room. If he had ordered him to ‘stay here’ that would have put a stop to his plans. But here he was, blissfully alone in the foyer without any orders. 

Chris wasn’t going to waste time. He ran for the door, prying the giant monstrosity open. He wouldn’t fail like his last attempt at escape. He would be stealthy. He would not get caught. He would make it back to the Tortuga and they would figure out how to save Martin.


	9. Chapter 9

Chris didn’t hesitate. He had no idea what country he was in, and he had no idea where the Wild Kratts team was, but it didn’t matter. He needed to get far away from here. He would set small goals, the first of which would be getting off the plantation.

Once again he found himself on the run. There was no Toodles to help him this time. Luckily, Donita wasn’t they type to live in a remote area. All he had to narrow down his location, and find a town or city. Cotton was native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, Africa, Egypt and India. That bit of knowledge didn’t really help him though. Instead, he looked at the surrounding vegetation.

When he spied a teak tree, he decided he was in India. The tree was also native to Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Thailand, but cotton was a large industry in India. His suspicions were only confirmed when he made it to a small city. Chris immediately felt safer was he wove through the crowds of people. There was no way his enemies would try to abduct him in public. Hopefully.

He had managed to accomplish two of his small goals successfully. One, he managed to get off the plantation. Two, he managed to find a town. His next goal was to find a phone and contact his team.

-

When the three walked into an empty foyer, Martin wanted to scream. His brother had tricked him. He had been stupid enough to admit to Chris that he still had lingering feelings for him, and the younger man used them against him. He was livid. He wanted to scream.

“Oh Martino.” Donita said, crossing her arms and pinning him with a glare. “How am I supposed to trust you if you can’t even control your brother?”

“Listen-“ Martin started.

“No, you listen!” Donita cut him off. “You let him break you last time. This time? You tell me he wants to join us? How stupid can you be?”

Donita was right. How could Martin ever believe his pure hearted brother would want to join them? Deep down inside, Martin had wanted it to be true so badly. He loved Donita, but he couldn’t stop the feelings of loneliness that plagued him. He had never admitted it to Donita, but his subconscious missed his brother.

“You’re right.” Martin ground out. It was bad enough his brother had tricked him, but now he was being reprimanded in front of Gourmand of all people. “Let me fix it. I’ll prove to you that he means nothing to me.”

Donita watched him as she mulled it over in her head. “Alright.” She finally said. “But don’t mess it up. You’ve done nothing but disappoint me when it comes to your bother.”

“Gourmand and I will make sure he pays for this little stunt.” Martin said. Gourmands lips curled and he nodded along. “I just need to have a quick chat with Zach before I go.”

-

Aviva was dreaming that she and Chris were surfing in Mexico. The sun shone off the blue water, and the waves were the perfect height and strength. The two of them were sitting on their boards away from the shore, waiting for the next wave. Chris grinned, leaning in to kiss her, when a hand on her shoulder gently shook her awake.

When she cracked her eyes open, she found Chris smiling down at her as he had in her dream.

“Hey sleepy head.” He said softly.

“Oh. What time is it?” She dragged her head off the desk, leaning back and stretching. She didn’t remember falling asleep. The last thing she remembered was reading some correspondence with a local Kratt’s Kid regarding Martin. None of them had seen him.

“It’s just after 9.” Chris said, dragging a chair over and sitting next to her. “You need to stop falling asleep here, Aviva.”

“No one has heard from your brother in weeks, Chris. He could be in trouble.” Aviva yawned.

Almost a month ago now, Martin and Chris had had a fight. Neither brother had wanted to talk about it, so she wasn’t sure what it had been about. All that the remaining team knew, was that shortly after, Martin had left the team. He had said he needed some time away, but as the days passed, Aviva started to worry.

What could the two brothers have disagreed about so badly that Martin had stopped all contact with them? Chris didn’t seem worried, so maybe she shouldn’t either.

“Hey, come on.” Chris said, taking her hands in his. He gently rubbed circles with his thumbs and gave her a warm smile. “Wherever he is, I’m sure he’s fine. He knows how to contact us. If he was in trouble he would call.”

“Yeah. I know... something just feels off.”

Chris leaned forward and placed a quick kiss on her forehead before standing up. After Martin had left, the two had started dating. It wasn’t anything serious yet, but Aviva hoped it would be some day. She had always had a crush on Chris, but had never acted on it. It was Chris who had finally taken the first step and asked her out to dinner one night. The two laughed over sushi, as Chris gave her some wow facts about each species they consumed. Too much sake later and they made out in the gear room that night.

She blushed at the memory. They hadn’t slept together yet, but she knew it was only a matter of time. Her dreams were finally coming true. She was happier than she had been in months, which only made her feel guilty since Martin was gone, and that should make her feel sad.

Chris gave her a wink and wandered off to talk with Jimmy. The crew had decided to finally leave Japan and there was a lot of prep to take care of. They had originally stuck around in case Martin returned. Then, when they fell behind in their research and inevitably lost their research contract, they stayed for lack of direction.

One day, Chris declared it was time to head back to North America. They could get some much needed maintenance work done on the Tortuga, while he could look into submitting some research proposals and funding grants.

As she contemplated which task on her long list she should tackle first, she heard a soft ringing sound. Confused, she pulled the desk drawer open and rifled through it. There, at the bottom, was an old satellite phone. Before Aviva had created the creature pods, the crew used the sat phones to contact each other in remote areas. Since then, they kept the phones charged and online, but rarely used them anymore. Who would be calling them by phone?

“Hello?”

“Aviva? Thank god. It’s me, Chris. I need your help!”

Chris? She looked over to her boyfriend, who was currently sitting with Jimmy, planning the route back to Canada. Whoever was in the phone was not the real Chris.

“Is this some sort of trick?” She replied, tempted to just hang up. The problem was that the voice on the other end sounded exactly like Chris... Who else would know the old satellite phone number?

“What? No. Listen. Martin is with Donita. He’s been brainwashed again.” The voice said quickly. “I was kidnapped by Zach and Gourmand. I escaped and I need you guys to come get me. We need to figure out how to help Martin.”

“Are you sure?” She asked, still befuddled.

“Aviva! There is no time. They’re coming for me. I need your help now!” The voice replied, exasperated. Aviva didn’t know how to react. This had to be a trick surely. It reeked of Zach... but the caller had said Martin was with Donita. Even if it was a trick, maybe it was worth looking into.

“Alright, alright.” She sighed. “Where exactly are you?”

After ‘Chris’ gave her directions, she hung up and stared at the receiver. India was quite a detour from North America...

“Listen team, I just had the strangest phone call.” Aviva said, filling them in. Everyone stared at Chris, who looked surprised.

“It’s obviously a trap.” He said. “How can I be in two places at once?”

“Why would our enemies even think this trick would work? Maybe if they had pretended to be Martin, I would have been quicker to believe them, but Chris is right here.” Koki said, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair.

“I don’t think we should go. It sounds too fishy. Let’s just head back to Ontario and I’ll try contacting Martin.” Chris said, nodding along with Koki.

“That’s the thing. We haven’t heard from Martin.” Jimmy piped up. “What if he has been kidnapped?”

“But what about me? I certainly wasn’t kidnapped and I didn’t make the phone call.” Chris replied.

“Look, I know it doesn’t make any sense, but I think she should at least check it out.” Aviva said. “I think it sounds too unbelievable to not check out.”

“We could scope out the scene without being detected.” Koki mused. “Maybe use an insect creature power?”

“And I can park the Tortuga further away. I can monitor the situation, and we’ll keep the ship out of enemies’ hands.” Jimmy added.

“Guys, this is ridiculous.” Chris said, standing up. “This is obviously a trap. Don’t forget, my creature power suit still won’t work for some reason. I am not sending Aviva into a possibly dangerous situation on her own.”

“I appreciate your concern Chris, but I’ll be careful.” Aviva said, walking up to him and taking his hand. 

“No Aviva, I can’t let you.” He said simply.

“I’m sorry, but I have to do this. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to Martin when we could have helped him.” She replied. Before Chris could say anything else, she left the room to prep her creature power suit. She appreciated Chris’ concern, but she made her mind up and had to see the plan through now.

-

“He’s made contact and now the team is on their way. I tried to stop them, but they won’t listen.” Toodles spoke quietly on the phone.

“We’re aware he’s missing. They’ve sent Martin after him.” Zach’s voice replied. “You need to make them listen to you. I don’t care what you do, but you need to slow them down somehow.”

-

Aviva arrived on site, hidden from sight as a mosquito. ‘Chris’ had said to meet in a busy market square. She surveyed the scene but didn’t see anything that screamed trap. She kept her creature powers activated though, just in case.

It was late in the day, and the market was in full swing. Under different circumstances, she would have loved to peruse the different food and merchandise stands. Even now she was tempted to stop in the nearest cafe for an authentic chai tea. That was when she spied someone weaving through the market.

He wore a cloak to hide his features, but she just knew it was him. Fluttering down from her perch, she flew near him to make sure it was him. Chris waved a hand in front of his face, trying to shoo the mosquito.

She landed on his arm to avoid his hand and that’s when he really noticed her. A purple mosquito was probably hard to miss.

“Aviva?” He asked, raising his arm to his eyes. Not missing a beat, he carried her over to a shaded alcove where she could transform without drawing attention. Once she did, he hugged her close, making her tense.

“Thank god you came.” He sobbed into her shoulder. “I thought I’d never see any of you again.”

“Listen… I don’t trust you or any of this,” She said, shoving him back. “Who are you and what’s really going on here?”

“What? It’s me Aviva. Chris.” He said, the hurt showing on his face.

“The real Chris is back at the Tortuga. What game are you playing?” She poked him in the chest.

“The real Chris? It’s a Zachbot in disguise, Aviva!” Chris said, panicked. “Oh god… I had no idea it stayed behind. And now that it knows you’ve found me, who knows what it’s doing back at HQ.”

“This is absolutely crazy...” Aviva said, although wary. “Jimmy, are you getting all this?”

Jimmy didn’t reply. She tried Koki and Chris, but neither of them were on the other end. Static rang in her ear bud transmitter. Aviva suddenly felt panicked too.

“There not answering.”

“This has all been an elaborate plan, Aviva.” Chris said, grabbing her by the shoulders. “We need to get out of here and help the others. Please believe me. I wasn’t lying when I said they were coming for me.”

Aviva no longer knew what was real anymore, but so far this Chris hadn’t seemed aggressive or appeared to be luring her into a trap. For now, she would get them back to the Tortuga and go from there.

The pair started to run, as best as they could, through the crowded streets. Chris has said that Donita or Gourmand could easily be looking for him so it was best to stay out of the deserted alleys.

“What’s with the collar?” Aviva huffed, out of breath as they moved. He looked, sounded and acted like Chris, but the collar was was the only thing that was abnormal on this doppelganger. 

“It controls me.” He said. When Aviva outwardly panicked, Chris had to hastily explain. “Not like a remote for a Zachbot! It was a failed prototype for Martin’s original collar... it doesn’t brainwash but I have to obey commands.”

“And how do I know they didn’t command you to trick us?” Aviva stopped dead in her tracks. Chris stopped too and looked exasperated.

“Order me to do something Aviva.” Chris begged her. “Something that will make you trust that I’m under control. Then order me to tell you the truth. It’s the only way you’ll believe me.”

“Alright. Tell me how you really feel about me.” She said quietly.

“I love you like a sister.” He blurted out.

“I don’t know how to interpret that Chris. Especially since I think you and Martin have a ‘close’ relationship.” Aviva said harshly. She felt instantly guilty when she saw the colour drain from his face. “Tell me what your relationship is with your brother.”

“We... have a romantic relationship.” Chris admitted. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “How long have you known?”

“I didn’t know, but there were signs. Like the thumb print bruise on your neck that one day. Or how you two often sleep in each other’s room.” Aviva admitted.

“Please Aviva... it’s not-“

“It’s fine, Chris.” She huffed. If anything she was jealous. If this was the real Chris then she had been dating a robot this whole time. She knew the two brothers had amazing chemistry and it stung to know that she and Chris didn’t. Never would. “I won’t say anything.”

Chris said nothing, but nodded in thanks. The two started to walk again in awkward silence. This was indeed the real Chris. She was sad she had to find out this way, but now she knew for sure. An incestuous relationship with your brother wasn’t something people willingly admitted. Finally, when she worked up the courage, she asked him: “Tell me the truth.”

“Toodles, my robot twin, abducted me the day after I got back from the hospital. He told me that Martin had residual programming leftover from the collar and he was going to reactivate it. I was handed over to Zach who put this collar on me to make sure I would stay out of the way this time. Finally, I was handed over to Gourmand who’s been keeping me prisoner on his boat. All by a simple command I can’t refuse. I’ve been forced to do his bidding.” Chris explained.

Aviva was disgusted with herself. This whole time the brothers had been in danger, and she had no idea. Her biggest concerns the last few weeks were whether Chris liked her hair up or down, or where to go for dinner that night. Aviva tried to make herself feel better by reminding herself that she had been actively looking for Martin, but it didn’t help.

“I’m so sorry this happened to you, Chris. I’m sorry it took us this long to figure it out.” Aviva said, placing her hand on the collar. “I don’t see a clasp or anything, but we’ll figure out how to get rid of it, okay?”

They hugged again, and this time she didn’t push him away. “It’s okay. Thank you for believing me now. We’ll figure this out together.”

-

The two made it out of the city and into the surrounding farmland. They were on edge, being out in the open. If Aviva had been able to contact the crew, they would have planned a rendezvous with the Tortuga, but she still couldn’t get a hold of anyone. It also didn’t help that they were on foot. Aviva had offered him her creature power suit, but Chris declined.

“I don’t hold out hope that I’ll actually get free, Aviva.” He said solemnly. “It’s more important that you get away of needed. You are the smart one, and I have no doubt you’ll figure out a plan.”

Aviva frowned. It was a lot of burden to put on someones shoulders. Chris noticed her reaction and gave her a small smile. “And if not, that’s okay. I want you to go to Mexico like we originally planned and drink those ridiculously girly drinks on the beach.”

She knew Chris was trying to lighten the mood, even if they both knew she would never stop trying to save the brothers.

“I believe you’re the one who ordered that ridiculous Mai Tai at the Hawaiian resort we stayed at a year ago. Remember? It had so much fruit, flowers and an umbrella you struggled to drink it!” She laughed.

“Oh, but it was sooo good.” He moaned, grinning. He looked less stressed in that moment than he had in a while. “That was the trip that Jimmy made the mistake of ordering the party sized Mexican Bulldog. He was so hungover the next day.”

“I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen him drink alcohol since!” The two laughed out loud. It was easy to forget that they were on the run. At least until Chris got really quiet.

“Aviva... we’re being followed.” Chris said, grabbing her by the upper arm.

Aviva turned her head and followed Chris’ gaze. Down the road, a few kilometres back was a dark figure. 

“It’s just a dog.” Aviva said, squinting in the setting sunlight.

“That’s no dog.” Chris said. “It’s a leopard. A blue leopard...”

“Chris, if you’re right, leopards can move at 60 kilometres an hour! We’re screwed!” She cried out. How could they have been so reckless and ignored their surroundings? Chris bit his lip and looked around.

“There’s a tree stand up ahead. If we can get in it, it will slow Martin down.” Chris said, pulling her with him as he started to run. “Our only chance is to split up once we’re in there.”

“But Chris, he’s after you, not me!”

“Exactly. It’s like I said, one of us needs to get away.” Chris shook his head. “He will catch me, Aviva, I have no doubt. You to help the rest of the team and figure out a plan.”

Aviva nodded. If what Chris had said was true, he was offering himself to the wolves, just so she could get away. It didn’t sit well with her, but it was the most sound plan at the moment.

They burst into the trees just in time, as quick glance over her shoulder showed Martin less than a hundred meters away. She no longer bothered to look behind her. Chris took off to the right, and she veered left. Aviva knew when Martin entered the trees when she heard another crash of branches and leaves. 

While the trees would slow Martin down, it also slowed them down. Adrenaline was the only thing keeping her from giving up as she nearly twisted her ankle in the underbrush. When she finally couldn’t run any more, she stopped and dragged in lungs full of air. 

The forest was quiet. Was it over? Or had the brothers witched to stealth? Martin would have the upper hand as a leopard regardless. That’s when she remembered she was wearing her creature power suit. If Martin could use her invention against her, so could she. After a quick debate in her head on the different animals and their various benefits, she transformed into a larger cat, the Bengal tiger. 

Aviva crashed through the underbrush in the general direction of where Chris had run off, and had just caught up to the blue leopard in time. Martin had Chris pinned to a tree with his big paws. Before she could react, Martin leaned forward and clamped his sharp teeth around Chris’ neck. With a quick jerk of the leopards jaws, the younger man went limp.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tiny chapter update. I might be gone for a little bit, so this will have to tide you over for now. This story is starting to bum me out a bit, haha. I dread the things I have planned for the brothers. I keep thinking to myself, how am I going to end this story? How will I make things better? Instead, I just keep thinking up mean things to do to the brothers... So you know, fair warning. The next chapter is going to be more mean stuff. Someday there will be fluff. Maybe. Who knows anymore.
> 
> ENJOY :)

“No!!” Aviva cried out, leaping into the small clearing. “You bastard! How could you?”

“Where is he?” Martin growled, slowly advancing on her.

“What do you mean?” She asked, confused. Then she realized Chris’ neck had been slashed, but there was no blood. It was the robot; Toodles, as Chris had called him. Had it come for her after taking care of the rest of the crew? Chris had said it had helped him before... had it come to help him again?

Aviva was distracted from her thoughts as Martin growled. “Tell me where you’re hiding my brother, or you can share the fate as this Zachbot.”

“Martin... we’re friends. You wouldn’t...” she gasped.

In reply, the leopard jumped at her, teeth and claws bared. The two cats wrestled in the undergrowth. Aviva had no choice but to defend herself against one of her best friends. Although she was debating whether to change that status as Martin raked his claws along her neck, breaking the skin.

Martin, a trained biologist with years of field experience, had the upper hand. He knew how a leopard fights, and he knew the weaknesses of a tiger. Regardless of being the smaller feline, in a matter of minutes he had her pinned down. She was exhausted while he seemed like he had barely broken a sweat.

He stared down at her with a cold glare. Chris was right. Months ago he had opened up to her about his experience with a brainwashed Martin. Had said the hardest thing about it was his eyes. No warmth whatsoever. She shivered in fear of the stranger above her.

“Last chance. Where is he?”

Just as Aviva opened her mouth to deny him and accept her fate, Martin was thrown from her. Chris, the real Chris, has snuck up behind him and shouldered the leopard off.

“Run!” He yelled at her, placing himself between the two cats. Martin was momentarily dazed, giving his head a shake to clear it. Any minute he would turn around.

“Not without you, Chris. Come on!” She yelled, forgetting he had to obey commands. The two started to run before Martin’s voice rang out.

“Stop.” He hadn’t even needed to yell. Chris stopped dead in his tracks. He looked crestfallen, but said nothing. Before Aviva could say another word, he added: “You no longer obey her commands, only mine.”

“Please go, Aviva.” Chris begged. “Don’t let him order me to hurt you.”

“But if she leaves now, she’ll be abandoning you to me.” Martin said, dropping his creature powers and placing his hands on Chris’ shoulders from behind. It was an obvious claim of ownership. “She wouldn’t be a very good friend, now would she?”

“Come with me, Chris.” Aviva begged, holding her hand out to him. “You can fight the collar, I know you can do it!”

Chris didn’t even try to take her hand, much to her disappointment. He stared, defeated, at the forest floor. She couldn’t believe he was just giving up. At some point in his captivity something must have happened to break his spirit. She wanted to shake him out of whatever stupor he was in.

“Can’t stand to leave, but too scared to engage me. Whatever will you do now, Aviva?” Martin taunted.

Aviva wasn’t sure herself. Chris had told her to leave, to help the rest of the team, but what would happen to Chris? If Martin was willing to tear a robot apart… She looked over at the deactivated robot, and Martin followed her gaze.

“I’m sorry about your boyfriend. I’m sure Zach can fix him up for you again. But let’s face it, we both know you’d prefer the real Chris.” Martin smirked. “Did he tell you about us? He never spared you a glance because he was with me all along. You never stood a chance with him.”

Martin wrapped his arms around his brother’s chest, pulling him close. Then he grasped Chris’ chin, forcing his head back at an awkward angle before kissing him. It was a deep, sloppy kiss, and Aviva had to look away. Especially when she saw the blush creep along Chris’ cheeks.

“Enough, Martin.” She said as she glared at the ground.

“Go on Chris. Tell her who you’d rather have sharing a bed with you.” Martin purred, rubbing a thumb along Chris’ jawline.

“You, Martin.” Chris said without missing a beat.

Aviva was heartbroken. Chris had already admitted to her that he and his brother had been an item, but it didn’t make it any less painful to hear Martin parade it around. She didn’t want to hear anymore, but it didn’t stop her from blurting out one last question.

“Still? Even after all he’s done?” She asked in a small voice. Martin looked triumphant at the question.

“Go on. Answer her, Chris.”

“Yes.” Was his only reply. At least he had the decency to look ashamed.

“Do you hear that, Aviva? Even after I’ve murdered animals and sided with your enemies, he’d still pick me over you.” Martin mocked her. Aviva couldn’t stop the tears from sliding down her face. She had never felt so embarrassed and unwanted in her life. She knew Martin was just trying to get under her skin, to make her see Chris in a bad light, but she couldn’t help it. It was working. She found herself resenting both brothers.

“That’s enough, Martin.” Chris growled. “You have me, okay? Just let her go.”

“You’re right, my dear brother.” Martin said stepping back. “Let’s just make sure she doesn’t get any funny ideas about following us.”

Martin pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Chris. Chris, on the other hand went pale immediately. It was a 9 mm handgun. Aviva put her hands up in front of her and morbidly wondered if this was the first time Chris had ever held a real gun. 

“No.” Chris said, shaking his head.

“Yes. Shoot her so we can get out of this disgusting tree stand.” Martin growled back. 

Chris looked like he was struggling with the order. He groaned as if resisting caused him pain. It must have been a losing battle, because one hand wrapped around the handle, while the other cocked it. Aviva knew it was time to run. She would have to abandon Chris if she wanted to live. 

Still, Chris hadn’t raised it though. She took one backwards step, then another. Martin was yelling something at Chris, but her adrenaline had kicked in, and she started to run. She realised she was still in her tiger form as she crashed through the trees. Aviva leapt down onto all fours and put on a burst of speed. 

Behind her, the sound of the gun firing echoed through the trees. For a moment Aviva wondered if Martin had shot Chris in anger or frustration, but then she suddenly tumbled through the underbrush. When she came to a stop, she suddenly focussed on the weird tight pressure in her shoulder. Aviva looked down and saw the wound before she realized she had been shot. By which brother, she wasn’t sure. 

Maybe it was the adrenaline pumping through her veins, but she didn’t feel pain. She did feel extremely tired and cold, but that wasn’t a surprise given how much blood she was currently losing.

Aviva really only had one choice now. Either bleed out in animal form, or deactivate and take her chances with her human form. In creature form, an injury could mean different things. A snake bite in animal form might be okay if the creature had a resistance. But failing to metabolize or remove that poison before deactivating could mean facing a painful death in human form.

There was a chance she might bleed out faster if she deactivated, but she was really out of options at this point. Deactivating, she quickly placed her hand over the shoulder wound, fighting the urge to throw up from the pain. As a human she had less body mass, which meant the wound, while still there, at least had less blood flow now. It was still a steady trickle, but she could work with that.

She staggered out of the trees, glancing down the road to see if she could spot the brothers. It was clear. Each step she took was agony, and she tried to breathe through the pain. The world suddenly tilted, and the ground rushed up to meet her. She slammed hard against the dirt road, crying out as her shoulder was jarred. This is it, she thought to herself. She wouldn’t make it back to the Tortuga. Maybe she should have stayed in the trees, it might have been a better place to die than on an old dirt road.

As the darkness gathered at the edges of her vision, she saw a pair of shoes come into view. Had Martin come to finish her off? It didn’t matter anyways, because she knew she was done. She closed her eyes and fell into unconsciousness.


End file.
